It’s Really That Bad at the Front, Say Russian POWs

Exclusive interviews with two Russian prisoners of war conducted by Kyiv Post appear to confirm reports by Ukrainian intelligence and Western analysts that parts of the Russian army are poorly provisioned, badly motivated and generally treated as cannon fodder.

One of the prisoners of war, *Sergei, told Kyiv Post that his unit was brought to Ukraine and told to dig trenches – but the soldiers, some straight out of prison without their own cell phones or adequate clothing, had to buy their own shovels.

“We had to have something to dig with,” he said. “They didn’t give us anything.

“They just brought us in, threw us out in the woods and told us to dig and not to go anywhere from this strip because a bird [drone] might fly in and drop something on our heads.”

Sergei said that before being captured by the Ukrainians – who, he was told, would beat him and torture him – his command informed him that he should detonate a grenade, killing himself and anyone nearby instead of surrendering.

“Honestly, we’re fed, we bathe, we’re clean, we sleep. We’re all good,” Sergei said of his actual experience with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Sergei is one of the many Russian soldiers whom Moscow promised release from prison, a government pardon, as well as a salary of about $2,200 a month – nearly twice the country’s average.

“The whole 4th Military Company is prisoners,” Sergei said, who was two-and-a-half years into a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for murder before being recruited.

According to Sergei, some of his fellow captives have already finished their military contracts but haven’t been allowed to go home.

“It doesn’t mean anything. Until the war is over, you stay,” he said.

The captive was also critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the interview: “He’s got everybody around him. National Guard, militia, military. He’s our king!

“I don’t know what else to call him. He doesn’t change, nobody votes for him. His own people vote for him, as they should.

“He has to be removed, but how do you remove him? You think I’m the only one out there? There’s a lot of us out there.”

Sergei said that he fears what will happen to him if he returns to Russia: “They’ll shoot me. I don’t know what to do.”

*Viktor, another prisoner of war interviewed by Kyiv Post, was told that he would only be working as an army driver.

“I didn’t end up becoming a driver,” he said. “They made me a cook. I cooked lunches and dinners and then they sent me to the front.”

He described a scenario where everyone in his unit was out for themselves.

“Each man is responsible for his own life,” he said.

The interviews, which can be read in full below, chime with Western assessments of the grim conditions in which Russian troops live and fight. A recent report from the British Ministry of Defense said some had reported being “wet from head to toe” for weeks on end on the front line and could not even boil a mug of tea for fear of alerting their positions to Ukrainian forces.

The interview was conducted at a military facility. There was a Ukrainian soldier present in the room with the captives and the reporter. The captives were not required to answer any questions and could leave the interview at any time.

*The prisoners identified themselves by name, but Kyiv Post has used pseudonyms to keep their identities confidential, in accordance with the international conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war. Specific dates and places have been generalized. 

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Sergei

What was your occupation?

I used to plaster and whitewash walls in [western Russia].

How did you get to Ukraine?

Well, I was in prison. I signed a contract for a year, and I thought that with a year in the army, I would quickly – that I would be able to leave prison. You get released and a pardon after a year.

What were you in prison for?

Murder.

How long have you been in prison?

Since 2021.

How long was your sentence?

Seven-and-a-half years. I did two-and-a-half and they told me one year of military service and I’m out. I joined because I’ve got kids, and I needed to have a clean record.

How old are your kids?

23 and 17.

How did you end up in Ukrainian captivity?

We just came out and we were immediately shelled, I was knocked on the ground. I crawled. We were immediately taken prisoner. The Ukrainians came in and told us to come out or they would throw a grenade. That’s it. We came out (of hiding). I didn’t go to kill, I had to get out of [prison] somehow.

How did you plan to go to war and not kill anybody?

I don’t know. It just didn’t work it out. I had to.

When did you sign the contract?

[mid-September]

And when were you captured?

[the end of October]