Russian prisoners of war told journalists how they left their positions or surrendered en masse during the offensive of the Armed Forces in the Kursk region.
Points of attention
- Russian conscripts en masse surrendered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kurshchyna after being abandoned by their commanders.
- Testimonies of prisoners of war reveal the insecurity of the Russian border by young servicemen.
- The Russian troops could not resist the Ukrainian technical means, in particular the "Bradley" BMP.
320 prisoners of war from Kurshchyna passed through the prison in Sumy
The publication reports that journalists visited a prison in Sumy region, where 320 prisoners are held. According to an anonymous source, 80% of them are Russian conscripts.
As the publication notes, after a certain time the prisoners are moved to other places far from the combat zone. Some of them have injuries from debris or firearms.
Dozens of captured conscripts in cells were lying on beds or sitting on wooden benches, watching cartoons on TV.
One of the prisoners of war named Vasyl said that he served in the border guard and was captured on August 6. He remembers how he hid in a birch grove with other soldiers during the attack. Vasyl admitted that he never expected such a development of events.
The NYT notes that the Russian border was poorly defended by young conscripts who often surrendered or abandoned their positions. Vasyl said that he survived by lying under branches in a birch forest near the border for three days before he decided to surrender.
According to the prisoners, they were placed in fortifications of 30 people, located approximately 1.5 km from each other along the border. They faced a sudden attack and quickly stopped their resistance.
21-year-old Ihor, drafted in December, said that a few days before the attack, the Ukrainian artillery intensified its strikes, which the command did not react to. During the attack, Igor tried to take shelter in the fortification, but it caught fire, and he and the others fled to the forest. Of the 12 people who tried to escape, only five survived.
Ihor also said that the Russian troops were unable to resist the Ukrainian "Bradley" BMP.
Serhii, 20, from Tatarstan, said his commander ordered 28 soldiers to retreat. They hid in a village house, but were discovered by the Ukrainian military and surrendered. According to Serhii, the platoon commander shouted out the window: "Conscript soldiers are here. We want to surrender."
More than 100 soldiers of the Russian army voluntarily surrendered as prisoners in Kurshchyna
It is noted that a company of Russian soldiers decided to surrender after the military leadership of the aggressor country abandoned them to their own devices.
It is emphasized that the commanders simply left more than a hundred soldiers, after which they decided to surrender to the Ukrainian military.
The Armed Forces captured 102 servicemen of the 488th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the "Akhmat" unit (a special unit stationed in Chechnya).
