Putin sends Russian soldiers recently released from Ukrainian prisons to the front

Moscow"They were taken to an unknown location, their phones and all their belongings, including crucifixes, chains, and ID cards, were taken away, and they were assigned guards. They never arrived back at their units. Two days later, they were sent back to the front." This is the account given by a relative of a Russian POW released in the March 19 exchange, in which each side handed over 175 combatants, and which has been circulating in video form on Russian Telegram channels in recent days.

"Our boys have been through hell in captivity," she continues. "They have suffered numerous tortures and abuses. Most have shrapnel wounds and bruises, fractures that healed without medical attention, and one of them is missing a leg. They all need care and rest, finally, but, even though they are sick, they are handled head-on," she concludes.

As ARA has been able to confirm, this case is no exception. Ivan Txuviliàev, spokesman for the Go by the Forest association, which helps Russian soldiers to desert and surrender when arrested, explains to this newspaper that they are receiving requests for help from relatives of the combatants released in the penultimate exchange, on May 23, 24, and 25. This latest exchange is the largest so far, with a thousand prisoners handed over to each side. They fear that their relatives have been sent back to fight without being able to speak to them after spending months or even years in prison.

It is common for soldiers to undergo interrogation by the FSB, the Russian secret service, immediately after their release. They are then taken to the military unit where they are registered, which may be located near the front lines. Upon arrival, they are forced to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense. Go by the Forest says that "it is impossible to refuse" and that "often the documents are already signed."

The organization reminds those affected that they have the right to undergo an evaluation by a military medical commission and, immediately afterward, to request leave. Doctors must certify whether a soldier is fit to return to the army or needs rest, although they are very rarely ruled out for military service. Human rights organizations consider this practice inhumane because almost all former POWs suffer at least psychological after-effects that make their return to the front lines inadvisable.

The Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits the use of former POWs in active military service. However, neither Russia nor Ukraine allows voluntarily refusing to be drafted during wartime, even after prior captivity. Furthermore, lawyer Maksim Grebeniuk points out that the Russian Ministry of Defense has found a loophole to avoid contradicting international provisions. Russian authorities only consider prisoners with incurable wounds or illnesses, or severely impaired mental abilities, to be entitled to direct repatriation, giving doctors plenty of leeway to turn a blind eye and deny soldiers' appeals.

This dynamic has been documented since at least the summer of 2023. The independent outlet Kholod reported that around thirty former Russian convicts had been sent to the occupied Ukrainian territories. However, this time they were not transferred to the front, but a few kilometers further inland, to training camps, where they had to dig trenches. One of the most high-profile cases is that of the Russian soldiers imprisoned during the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk. According to Go by the Forest, once they were released in September of last year, they were taken back to the front lines.

Young people, cannon fodder

The suspicion is that the exchange taking place this week, which involves the release of all seriously injured and sick persons under the age of 25, will repeat the pattern. In statements to Novaia Gazeta EuropaIrina Krinina, spokesperson for Our Way Out, a movement dedicated to finding missing or captive Russian soldiers, warns that the authorities are especially interested in handing over young, healthy boys so they can be taken back to the front. "If their legs, arms, and head are in place, they don't even need to go through a medical examination," she concludes.

The last exchange, agreed upon during the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, began on Monday, but the parties have declined to release final figures until it is completed, citing security reasons. This swap was deliberately proposed, but Ukraine denies this and justifies the slowness by the importance of carefully addressing such an emotionally and logistically sensitive issue.