Ukrainian forces captured over 240 Russian soldiers during their recent incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, the Washington Post (WP) reports.
This claim is based on an analysis of visual evidence, including photos and videos, many of which appear to show mass surrenders of young Russian troops.
This comes amid Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, which started on 6 August.
According to the WP’s review of more than 130 images and videos, at least 247 Russian prisoners were depicted in verified visuals. The footage, largely shared on social media by Ukrainian soldiers, spans a territory of more than 14 miles inside Russian borders.
The capture of these soldiers, many of whom identify themselves as conscripts, presents a politically sensitive issue for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Dara Massicot, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Post, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a video of Russian soldiers surrendering en masse like that.”
The WP reports that in seven verified videos, prisoners refer to themselves as conscripts – men aged 18-30 serving mandatory military service. This is significant because, as Massicot explains, “Having conscripts in combat undermines the social contract between Russian families and the government that has held under Putin’s leadership since 1999.”
The Ukrainian military shared footage showing the surrender of Russian troops near the Sudzha border crossing. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights groups said that recording and disseminating statements from prisoners of war violates rules against exposing them to “public curiosity.”
Neither the Ukrainian nor Russian government officially confirmed the number of Russian prisoners taken during the Kursk offensive. However, the head of a Ukrainian prison holding captured soldiers told a WP reporter that 320 Russians had passed through his facility in the ten days before the visit.
Mathieu Boulègue, a nonresident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, suggests that the high number of surrenders “shows how fragile the war narrative is in Russia, and it also shows how desperate probably these soldiers are.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy referred to the capture of Russian prisoners as refilling the “exchange fund” – soldiers to trade for captured Ukrainian troops.
Kyrylo Budanov, chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, said they will prioritize the return of Azov Brigade fighters captured during the defense of Mariupol over two years ago.
Read also:
- Ukrainian forces advance in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, capture two settlements — Syrskyi
- Russian forces build defensive line near power plant in Kursk Oblast – Frontelligence Insight
- Zelenskyy: More Russian POWs and one settlement captured in Kursk Oblast
- The Independent: Ukraine captures around 2,000 Russian POWs in Kursk, Ukrainian colonel says
- Russia attempts to force POW families into spying and conducting acts of sabotage, Ukraine warns
