Russian soldier Mikhail Surikov signed a contract with the Russian military out of absurdity.
In a video filmed while he was cooped as a prisoner of war in Ukraine in November 2023, he said he had actually gotten because he required money.They sent us here to pass away, Surikov, a former locksmith professional for an oil company, said of the Russian army.
It was not possible to identify whether his remarks were made under duress.When asked a year later about what would happen to him if he were freed in a detainee exchange, Surikov said his Russian commanders would send him back to the battlefield.Surikov, 49, appears to have been exchanged in a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine last year.
He was later on killed at the front.Moscow and Kyiv have actually intensified detainee exchanges given that the 2 sides held peace talks in Istanbul in May and June, where they accepted swap more than 1,000 injured or ill service members as well as soldiers under the age of 25.
This month, the 2 sidesheld their 8th round of detainee exchanges.These swaps came amidst reports that Moscow is sending former detainees of war exchanged by Kyiv back into combat a move that breaches the Geneva Convention on POWs, which states that former detainees can not be employed on active military service.As in the case of Surikov, some households have actually published video appeals asking Russian authorities not to send their previously captive loved ones back to the front after an exchange.I want to address Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putinwith a demand not to send previous POWs back to the war zone, said Marina Frolova, whose hubby, Alexei Frolov, has been held as a POW in Ukraine for more than a year.Our kids and we, their families, have gone through a lot throughout this time.
Enough.
Return them home after the exchange, not to the war, Frolova said in a video that distributed online last month.A Russian serviceman devoid of Ukrainian captivity go back to Russia.Alexander Patrin/ TASSSimilar cases have been reported before.A household from Russias Far East Zabaikalsky region told journalists that their relative was sent back into military service right after a detainee exchange.Kirill Putinsev, 23, who was recruited to fight in 2024 while serving a prison sentence for theft, went back to Russia after a swap in May 2025 however he wasnt even allowed to go home for a single day and was rejected even a recommendation to a military medical commission, his sibling Yana claimed.After suffering a nervous breakdown, Putinsev was sent out to a psychiatric healthcare facility in Russian-occupied Donetsk, his sis said.In the Pskov region, Vasily Grigoryev, 32, and Dmitry Davydov, 45, were prepared into the 1009th Motorized Rifle Regiment following Russias September 2022 mobilization.
They were later on sent out to fight in Ukraine, where they invested over six months in Ukrainian captivity.After being launched in a 195-for-195 prisoner swap, Russian commanders redeployed them to the Kharkiv front where they were charged with evacuating the wounded and the dead.
The two males ultimately left from their military base and hitchhiked to Moscow, where they looked for legal assistance.According to legal representative Maxim Grebenyuk, who represented Grigoryev and Davydov, the Russian Defense Ministry argued that the servicemen did not fall under the specific classifications of detainees of war subject to direct repatriation.These categories, according to the Geneva Convention, are the terminally injured or ill and individuals whose physical or psychological capacities have been severely diminished.Yet Article 117 of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War states no repatriated person might be used on active military service.It is impossible to approximate the number of previous Russian detainees of war have been returned to the front by order of Moscow, as official lists of those who have been exchanged and those presently serving in the Russian army are not openly available.Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law that excuses previous detainees of war from mobilization.According to the group Idite Lesom (Get Lost), which assists Russians avoid involvement in the war, several dozen former POWs who were forced back to the front after being exchanged gotten in touch with the company in 2015 asking for help.Sergei Krivenko, director of the Citizen.
Army.
Rights group, told The Moscow Times that his organization has actually also gotten grievances from loved ones of POWs who were returned to the front after being exchanged, as Russian authorities continue to treat them as active-duty soldiers.The Moscow Times requested remarks from Russias Defense Ministry and human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova, who handles POW cases and has actually stated that every search request goes through me personally.The Moscow Times also asked Ukraines Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War for comment.None had actually reacted to these demands by the time of publication.