Ukraine has shown captured Russian soldiers in dozens of online videos, while Moscow has finally admitted that its forces have suffered heavy losses after photos of bodies of Kremlin fighters surfaced.
Footage posted online shows tied “demoralized and exhausted” Russian prisoners of war captured after failing to break through Ukrainian defenses in Kyiv and Kharkiv over the weekend.
Several of the videos were published on the Telegram channel, set up on Saturday by Ukraine’s Interior Ministry as Find Your Own.
Many Russian troops say they believe they are conducting exercises in the border areas and did not know they were sent to invade Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry has admitted for the first time that it has suffered losses in the conflict after several bodies of Kremlin servicemen appeared.
A spokesman for the ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, did not give details of Russia’s deaths or injuries, but said on Sunday that his country’s losses were “many times” lower than those of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defense ministry has put the total death toll at 5,300, although that number cannot be verified independently, and the death toll from Europe’s biggest land conflict since World War II remains unclear amid confusion.
Ukraine demonstrates captured Russian soldiers in dozens of online videos. Footage of a captured Russian soldier saying he did not come to the country “to want to kill” appeared on Facebook.
Soldiers from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic were captured by the Ukrainian military on Thursday, hours after Russia launched an invasion of the country.
The body of a serviceman is covered with snow next to the destroyed Russian military system for a volley rocket on the outskirts of Kharkov
The body of an unmarked soldier claimed by the Ukrainian military to be a Russian serviceman killed in fighting in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine
One of the videos, published in the Telegram early Sunday, shows a captured Russian soldier who identifies himself as Leonid Paktishev, 28, commander of a sniper unit based in the Rostov region.
Pactishev’s family spoke to security guardthey said they did not know he had been sent to the front line with Ukraine – adding that they believed their relative did not know before he was sent.
“I knew that Leonid was in the military, but I had no idea that he was sent to Ukraine. I don’t think he would have known either, “said his sister Polivtseva, who bore her maiden name.
The family expressed shock and anger that Paktishev had been sent across the border, but stopped condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Polivtseva saying she was not “competent” to judge whether the military action was correct.
Other footage suggested showing Russian soldiers calling their families to tell them they had been captured but were safe and treated “fairly” by Ukrainian forces.
A video of a soldier wearing military clothes and a black hat tells his mother that the commanders told the troops that they were “going as peacekeepers to the territory of the (self-proclaimed) Donetsk People’s Republic.”
“In fact, war has broken out and we are here, bombing cities,” he said, before telling his mother not to panic.
Another video posted on the Ukrainian security service’s Facebook page shows a 21-year-old sniper soldier telling his captors that he was part of a military exercise at the border before the invasion.
“About two weeks later we were told to line up at the border, and then we suddenly crossed it at night. There was no choice. If we had refused to go to war, we would have been accused of treason.
Footage posted by the Ukrainian military on Facebook showing a captured Russian soldier saying he had not come to the country “wanted to kill” appeared on Facebook.
Ukrainian forces detain servicemen from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic who were captured during Thursday’s attack on the town of Schastie
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces later said his soldiers had captured the entire 74th Brigade with motorcycle rifles. The message was published with a photo of a man with a bandaged hand and a bloody uniform, which seems to say “Russian Army”
Several Russian soldiers photographed by their captors say they believe they are conducting exercises in the border areas and did not know they were sent to invade Ukraine.
Videos released by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry early Friday show at least nine captured Russian soldiers
Late last week, Ukrainian authorities said they had captured dozens of Russian soldiers, including the 74th Motorcycle Rifle Brigade, which allegedly surrendered to Ukrainian forces during Thursday’s fighting.
Konstantin Buynichev, commander of the brigade, believed to be a reconnaissance platoon of 20 to 50 soldiers, said he only learned of the raid on Wednesday and believed they were returning home.
He said: “Nobody thought we were going to kill. We would not fight – we were gathering information.
The announcement of the capture of Buinichev and his troops was issued by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense with a photo of the commander with his arm bandaged and wearing a bloodied uniform that appeared to read “Russian Army”.
On Thursday, Ukrainian forces said they had captured two Russian soldiers identified as Rafik Rakhmankulov, 19, and Mgomd Mgomdov, 26, from Kizilyurt, along with a cache of weapons and knives during fighting near Kharkov in eastern Ukraine.
Four more Russian soldiers, the crew of a BMP combat vehicle, were captured by Ukrainian forces near Luhansk on Thursday morning.
They were depicted lying face down with jackets over their heads after being captured by Kyiv troops.
Ukrainian servicemen were also filmed on Thursday detaining soldiers from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic after being captured during an attack on the town of Happiness in the morning.
Another video released by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry early Friday appears to show at least nine other captured Russian soldiers, and similar footage was posted online over the weekend.
Two Russian soldiers – believed to be Rafik Rakhmankulov, 19 (left) and Mgomd Mgomdov, 26, from Kizilyurt (right) – were captured by Ukrainian forces in the east of the country.
Weapons and knives seized from two Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian troops fighting around Kharkiv
The crew of a Russian BMP war machine is seen face down with jackets on (left) after being captured by Ukrainian forces (their machine is pictured, right)
Ukrainian forces detain troops from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic on Thursday morning