Captured Russian soldiers broke down in tears as they told their families they had been ‘sent to their deaths in Ukraine. The prisoners of war were interviewed on camera by Ukrainian forces and said they had been used as cannon fodder in the war.
It comes after Ukraine claimed it had killed 6,000 Russian troops during the first six days of the invasion. Now footage is being shared online showing some of the captured invaders complaining about the war. One captive was filmed speaking to his mother over the phone, telling her: “They sent us to death, everyone killed everyone.”
The soldier then broke down crying and told his mum ‘I love you too’. In another clip, a different Russian prisoner said: “We came for training. We were lied to and that’s why I am here.”
In one of the videos, published early on Sunday morning on the Telegram channel Find Your Own, set up by Ukraine’s interior ministry, a visibly injured soldier identifies himself as Leonid Paktishev, the commander of a sniper unit based in the Rostov region.
The Telegram channel, which first went live on Saturday, has posted numerous videos and photos showing captured Russian troops, which have led to an outcry from their families who say they were shocked to find out about the involvement of their loved ones in the invasion of Ukraine.
The Guardian spoke to three family members who confirmed the identity of Paktishev and said they were shocked and angry when they found out after seeing the video that their loved one had been captured. “I was sent the video of my brother captured at 2 am last night. I was completely shocked. I had no idea that he was fighting in there,” said Yelena Polivtseva, the sister of Paktishev. In the video, Paktishev, from the small town of Mezdhurechenskiy in western Siberia, said he led a team of three other snipers.
