Behind the gates of a prisoner of war camp. Captured after serving in the Russian army, the men anonymously recount their day-to-day in a Ukrainian prison camp and the reasons that brought them to the camp, in an exceptional document for the BFMTV cameras, five months after the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. The exact location of this center is deliberately not provided for security reasons.
For weeks, even months, Russians, but also Ukrainians, have been locked up in a prison camp in Ukraine, after being arrested by kyiv forces.
“I was captured in the city of Rubizhne (in eastern Ukraine, editor’s note). (…) I was caught in the crossfire between the Ukrainian armed forces and those of Lugansk,” says one of them, dressed in a Cap. and a simple gray blouse like all his companions.
After a period of transit in a place of captivity located near the front line, the prisoners passed through many stages before reaching their final destination.
“Interrogation, transfer, interrogation, transfer, one temporary detention center, then another,” lists one captive.
“No luxury conditions”
The daily life of the prisoners is marked by manual work. Some manufacture wooden platforms in particular. They may also play sports and take courses. Religious practice is also permitted within the camp grounds.
Living conditions are basic. Prisoners sleep in spacious dormitories where dozens of beds are lined up in a white-walled room equipped with the bare minimum. Each one is assigned a layer with their photo and name. Some small personal effects can be placed at his feet.
A prisoner of war costs the Ukrainian state about 3,000 hryvnias a month, the equivalent of about one hundred euros.
“These are not luxurious conditions,” acknowledges Ukraine’s Deputy Justice Minister Olena Vysotska. “But these are the standards of the Geneva Convention and this is what a country at war can afford,” she says.
Prisoners with a minor role in the conflict?
As for the reasons for their imprisonment, most of the prisoners claim to have played minor roles in the conflict in Ukraine. One claims to be a mechanic, the other driver of a military vehicle. Many, however, admit to having been under contract to the Russian military.
“I was a car painter, but due to illness I had to stop and one of my friends offered me to be a driver. (…) They told me that there would be nothing related to the war (…), so I accepted”, justifies one of them.
While some of them could be used as bargaining chips with the Russian military, others can spend years in captivity.
Source: BFM TV
