Fears Ukrainian POWs have been coerced to fight against their fellow citizens by Russia, says ISW

Sat, 10/28/2023 - 11:28

russian soldiers — Russian servicemen take part in military exercises at the Uspenovskyi training ground outside the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, on September 4, 2022.
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images

Russia is training Ukrainian prisoners of war to fight on the front lines, Russian media reported.
The soldiers come from penal colonies in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast.
Forcing prisoners of war to fight would violate the Geneva Convention.

Russian authorities are planning to deploy a battalion of Ukrainian prisoners of war to the front lines, Russian media reported.

The "Bogdan Khmelnitsky" battalion was created earlier this year in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, its commander, Andrii Tyshchenko, told RIA Novosti.