I was sure we would be shot. Azov fighters recount their Russian captivity.

Ukrainian soldiers from the 'Azov' brigade shared their experiences during their captivity in Russia. The interviews were conducted by journalist Ramina Eskhakzai.

Snow's experience in Russian captivity

One of the Ukrainian soldiers with the call sign 'Snow' recalled his interrogations and conditions in Russian captivity. He described his first interrogation, which took place in a hospital after being wounded. According to 'Snow', the questions he was asked were very strange:

'I was brought to the hospital, and immediately I went through my first interrogation. They asked questions about American biological laboratories, weapon production, tunnels, and more. It was so weird that I didn't know how to answer them.'

Later, they were transferred to a hospital in Donetsk.

'There was quite an interesting staff. One nurse was hitting our thermometers, trying to break them, and then we cleaned up the mercury,' Snow recounted.

Paco's impressions of captivity

Another Ukrainian defender, marked as 'Paco', talked about his feelings after falling into Russian captivity. He said it was a hard trial for which one cannot be mentally prepared.

'It was a disappointment in fate, and it was hard for me to understand it. A person is never ready for this. We all knew that captivity is the worst part of our service. But our commander, Denys Prokopenko, did everything possible to save us. He came to us and said he was doing everything to keep our service,' Paco recounted.

'Paco' remembered that he read the Prayer of the Ukrainian Nationalist to calm himself. He also recalled a horrifying picture upon entering captivity:

'When we were carrying the wounded to the vehicle and passing through a corridor with Russian soldiers, it was terrifying. Many wounded on stretchers, surrounded by Russians and militants from 'DNR'. I felt relieved when one of the militants from 'DNR' said, 'Thank you for your service.' I asked my classmate if I heard that right, and he said no. I can't understand what this is called? Is it a rebranding of army brotherhood? They put us in the vehicle, I became scared, I didn't know what would happen next, so to calm myself, I started reading the Prayer of the Ukrainian Nationalist.'

Fruity's impressions of captivity

Another Ukrainian serviceman, marked as 'Fruity', shared his experiences during his captivity in Russia.

'My commander told me: 'You have 20 minutes to gather your things and go into captivity.' We were transporting 300 wounded to the buses. I was sure we would be shot,' Fruity recounted.

According to 'Fruity', they were not shot, but they were blown up a little later:

'As we approached the bus, one of the opponents stepped on something that exploded, and he lost his leg. The Russians could not help him. Our guys offered assistance, but the Russians refused,' the soldier recounted.

As of November 2024, Ukraine has freed and returned 3,767 people from Russian captivity, including 168 civilians.

It should be noted that the most difficult category of Ukrainian prisoners for exchange were the defenders of Mariupol and Ukrainians who had already received judicial sentences in Russia.