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Singing the Russian national anthem, abuse and miserable food: two former Ukrainian prisoners of war tell Deutsche Welle (DW) what they experienced during their captivity in a Russian prison.
Ivan* and Andrij* are part of the group of eleven Ukrainian soldiers, believed to be of Hungarian origin, who were released from Russian captivity in June 2023 and transferred to Hungary.
“We thought they were going to shoot us”
The Russian captivity changed the two men. After volunteering for military action in February 2022, the Ukrainians were captured in June 2022 in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. According to DW, they were then taken to a prison camp in eastern Ukraine.
“Every now and then we were beaten,” Andrij told DW. Every morning they had to sing the Russian national anthem. Those who did not sing along were punished with a beating. The food consisted of grits and spoiled vegetables. According to his own statements, Andrij lost almost 30 kilos in captivity.
The only condition for release: “Say you are Hungarian!”
About a year after their captivity, the two soldiers were blindfolded and packed into a truck with nine other men and driven to Moscow. “At first I thought they were taking us to another camp or taking us to be shot,” Andrij said. In Moscow they were eventually released to Hungary. The Russian secret service asked them to declare that they were Hungarians. This was the only condition for release.
The incident caused diplomatic tensions between Ukraine and Hungary at the time. Because: Hungary revealed that it had not informed Ukraine about the release of the soldiers. Under international law, the home country of those affected must be notified when prisoners are transferred to third countries.
Did the Kremlin want to divide the West?
At the time, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán presented the action as a “humanitarian gift” to save members of the Hungarian minority in western Ukraine. But: According to Iwan and Andrij, only one of the eleven freedmen is actually of Hungarian descent. The Hungarian side had instructed them not to return to Ukraine, otherwise it would no longer be possible to release other comrades. The Hungarian government contradicts this version, claiming that the men were free and could go wherever they wanted.
The soldiers do not know how the deal with the Hungarians came about. After the deal was closed, there was silence in official Hungary, as “DW” reports. Ukrainian political scientist Dmytro Tushanskyj suspects to the medium that the extradition was “a hybrid special operation of the Kremlin” to undermine the unity of the West in supporting Ukraine.
*Names changed
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
