NYT: Hundreds of POWs from Kursk have passed through the Sumy prison.

The prison in Sumy accepted 320 prisoners of war from the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, among them 80% are conscripts. This was reported by The New York Times, citing the words of the prison warden, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

Journalists noted that the mentioned numbers cannot be verified. The prisoners are sent west, away from the fighting.

On Friday, at the Time of the journalists' visit, there were 71 prisoners of war in the prison. The prisoners are in basement cells to protect them from possible air strikes. Some had shrapnel or gunshot wounds.

The prisoners said they were placed in platoons of about 30 people in concrete or earthen fortifications located about 1.5 km apart along the border. There they faced a sudden attack and quickly ceased the fight.

21-year-old POW Igor, who was drafted in December, said that Ukrainian artillery strikes intensified several days before the invasion. “We reported to the commanders, but they did not respond,” he recalled. “They said, 'Well, there's nothing we can do about it.'”

On the day of the attack, under artillery fire, he tried to take shelter in a fortification, but it caught fire. According to him, he and other soldiers ran to the nearest forest. From his group of 12 people who tried to flee to safety, five survived.

Private Sergey, a 20-year-old from Tatarstan, said that the commander of his platoon led 28 soldiers from their position in a chaotic retreat. They hid in a village house, but Ukrainian soldiers found them. Everyone surrendered. According to him, the platoon commander shouted out the window: “There are conscripts here. We want to surrender.”

The publication noted that the Ukrainian offensive halted far from the border, facing better-prepared Russian troops. However, conscripts in the Kursk region are still being captured by Ukrainian forces.

Recall that, according to The Washington Post, during an operation in the Kursk region, Ukrainian defenders managed to capture at least 250 Russian conscripts.

In particular, on August 14, SBU special forces captured 102 servicemen of the 488th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces and the Akhmat unit in the Kursk region. This is the largest mass capture of the enemy that has been achieved in one go.

Moreover, on August 14, more than a hundred Russian soldiers decided to surrender.