Hundreds of Russian Prisoners Found to Be 1020 Conscripts... Where Is Putin's Promise?

Conscripts Mostly in Their 10s and 20s
Putin Guarantees Safety... Likely to Face Political Pressure

The Ukrainian forces that attacked the Russian mainland reportedly captured hundreds of young conscript prisoners of war. These POWs could emerge as a new variable in the war that has continued for the past two years.

On the 18th (local time), the British media outlet The Guardian reported that the Ukrainian military is currently capturing up to 150 Russian conscripts per day. After launching a surprise attack on Kursk in the Russian mainland on the 6th, Ukrainian forces have been engaged in battles in Kursk ever since.

Most of the conscripts captured by the Ukrainian forces are young men in their teens and twenties. Oleksii Drozdzenko, the military administrative head of the Sumy region in northwestern Ukraine, told the media, "They (the prisoners) do not want to fight us." It is reported that the total number of prisoners of war captured by the Ukrainian military so far is about 2,000.

On the 14th (local time), Russian prisoners of war captured by Ukrainian forces in Kursk, mainland Russia. [Image source=Security Service of Ukraine, AP Yonhap News]

Foreign media such as The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that these conscripts had not even received proper military training or adequate weapons. When the Ukrainian forces launched the attack on the Kursk region, these conscripts fled and hid in nearby forests, village buildings, and basements, and surrendered when soldiers found them.

During interrogation, the young conscripts confessed, saying things like "Our superiors abandoned us and fled," and "We had to fight alone without training or weapons." A 20-year-old conscript prisoner said, "We asked the commanders to remove us from the border, but they said we had to stay here," adding, "They threw us to the dogs."

They reportedly all surrendered upon encountering the Ukrainian forces.
[Image source=Capture from X]

Conscripts could become a new variable in this war. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally guaranteed that these young conscripts would be "safe from the war."

In Russia, men aged 18 and over are required to serve as conscripts for one year. Unlike professional soldiers, they are prohibited from overseas deployment and are not assigned to combat operations. However, with thousands of these conscripts captured as prisoners of war during the Kursk attack, President Putin’s promise is at risk of being broken. Families of conscript prisoners in Russia have reportedly begun collective actions, such as creating online petitions directed at the Russian government.

The WSJ predicted that the prisoners of war could exert new political pressure on President Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also announced plans to add the surrendered young conscripts to Ukraine’s "assets," indicating that they will be used as bargaining chips in future negotiations to exchange Ukrainian POWs held by Russia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.