The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the unwillingness of prisoners of war to return to Ukraine

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the captured Ukrainian servicemen from the Marine Corps, National Guard, Airborne Assault and Ground Forces decided to remain on the territory controlled by the Russian Federation “because of their unwillingness to fight and the fear of being on the front line again.” This is stated in Telegram channel departments.

The Ukrainian military voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered, according to the Ministry of Defense. “The prisoners of war refused to be exchanged and do not want to return to Ukraine, so as not to become “cannon fodder” and die,” the ministry said.

The department did not specify the number of those who surrendered.

August 3, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexander Fomin informedthat Moscow and Kyiv have already carried out 27 operations to exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of dead servicemen. According to him, the defense department has formed a permanent medical commission to examine sick and wounded prisoners of war.

At the end of July, Russian human rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova reported that seven women from the crews of Russian civilian courts held in Ukraine had returned to the country. According to her, three of the Russians remaining in Ukrainian Izmail fell seriously ill. The Ombudsman turned to the Ukrainian side with a request to provide them with the opportunity to return home.

After the start of the special operation, the parties reported several times about the exchange of prisoners, as well as the release of truckers and sailors held in Ukraine. On May 20, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers left the Azovstal plant in Mariupol and surrendered. In Kyiv, they said that they were working on their return to the territories controlled by Ukraine. But the head of the Donetsk Republic, Denis Pushilin, noted that now the DPR is working on the creation of a tribunal. The Foreign Ministry allowed the exchange of prisoners with Ukraine only after the trial.