{"id":1323026,"date":"2025-11-20T13:37:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/the-occupiers-are-forming-ukrainian-battalions-from-prisoners-of-war-trying-to-create-the-illusion-of-an-internal-conflict\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T05:20:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T03:20:06","slug":"the-occupiers-are-forming-ukrainian-battalions-from-prisoners-of-war-trying-to-create-the-illusion-of-an-internal-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/the-occupiers-are-forming-ukrainian-battalions-from-prisoners-of-war-trying-to-create-the-illusion-of-an-internal-conflict\/","title":{"rendered":"Occupiers Turn POWs into \u2018Ukrainian Battalions\u2019 to Stage an Illusion of Civil War"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russian occupiers are using Ukrainian collaborators and prisoners of war to stage a \u201ccivil war\u201d in Pokrovsk.<\/strong> According to the analytical department of the Right Cause public interest group, these units have been deployed to create the illusion of internal conflict and sow confusion among the local population.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This concerns the so-called \u201csquads\u201d named after Alexander Matrosov and Martyn Pushkar. Video evidence has already been handed over to special services to identify the traitors.<\/p>\n

Notably, the occupiers are attempting to present this as part of a \u201ccivil war\u201d \u2014 suggesting that Ukrainians are fighting Ukrainians.<\/p>\n

According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, the occupiers have created four units under the control of the General Staff of the Russian Federation: the Bogdan Khmelnytsky Battalion, the Maksym Kryvonos Battalion, the Martin Pushkar Detachment, and the Alexander Matrosov Detachment. These units are composed of captured Ukrainian soldiers.<\/p>\n

According to Russian State Duma deputy Vodolatsky, Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers who allegedly refused to exchange and return home are being assigned to a \u201cUkrainian battalion under Russian command.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, there are prisoners of war who refuse to return home and wish to remain here. Some sign contracts, after verification, with units formed from Ukrainian army soldiers under Russian command,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, on September 24, 2022, the Russian propaganda outlet TASS reported that Ukrainian prisoners of war held in a camp in Olenivka \u201crequested\u201d permission from the authorities of the so-called Donetsk People\u2019s Republic to fight in the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Volunteer Cossack Battalion.<\/p>\n

By October 2023, the Russian propaganda agency RIA Novosti reported that the first battalion of former Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers \u2014 the Bohdan Khmelnytsky \u201cvolunteer battalion\u201d \u2014 had joined the Russian operational-combat tactical formation \u201cCascade.\u201d This battalion was formed in the territory of the so-called DPR from Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russian media at the time reported that approximately 70 Ukrainian prisoners of war had volunteered for the battalion. After completing combat coordination, the unit was planned to be redeployed to the front lines.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, it is no coincidence that this formation was incorporated into the \u201cCascade\u201d battalion, led by another traitor to Ukraine, SBU Colonel Khodakovsky.<\/p>\n

It is worth noting that the emergence of information about this unit on October 27, 2023, was also not accidental. The day before, media reports had surfaced claiming that a battalion of Russian citizens had been formed within the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The propagandists\u2019 error was significant: while spreading information about the \u201cbattalion\u201d undergoing combat training, they revealed that the soldiers had not actually taken the oath. At that time, the unit existed only on paper or in the occupiers\u2019 imagination.<\/p>\n

A standard battalion comprises at least 800\u20131,000 men. Yet, the occupiers cited a figure of just 70 men per year, referring to the number of prisoners who agreed to join this unit.<\/p>\n

This demonstrates that even under conditions of physical and moral pressure, limited information, and the torture endured by Ukrainian prisoners of war, the Russians were unable to form a real military unit for a long time. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has not confirmed the use of the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Battalion, formed from Ukrainian prisoners of war in the so-called DPR, by Russian forces on the front lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been over a year since information emerged about the creation of the so-called \u2018Bohdan Khmelnytsky\u2019 battalion, which was essentially just a special forces unit. There have been no confirmed combat deployments of this unit yet,\u201d GUR spokesman Andriy Yusov told Ukrinform in November 2024.<\/p>\n

Russian propaganda uses units made up of Ukrainian prisoners of war, controlled by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, to reinforce narratives about \u201cUkrainian fascism,\u201d the \u201cillegitimate Kyiv regime,\u201d and a \u201ccivil war\u201d in Ukraine. They also attempt to create the impression of mass collaboration and Ukrainians\u2019 willingness to fight alongside the occupiers against their own state.<\/p>\n

However, cases of collaboration among Ukrainian prisoners are isolated and not widespread.<\/p>\n

According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, they have verified information about 62 Ukrainian prisoners of war who signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense to fight in these units against Ukraine. Among them, there is even one soldier captured from the \u201cMaxim Kryvonos\u201d battalion.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that the use of Ukrainian prisoners of war in these \u201cbattalions\u201d constitutes a violation of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War. The Convention forbids compelling prisoners of war to take part in military operations on behalf of the captor, and bans placing or keeping them in locations where they could be exposed to combat.<\/p>\n

Currently, the occupying forces hold Ukrainian prisoners in over 300 detention camps, denying access to international organizations and human rights monitors. These camps are located in Russia, Belarus, and the occupied territories of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

More than 90% of Ukrainian soldiers who have returned from captivity report having been tortured. They were also deprived of adequate sleep and food.<\/p>\n

Also, follow “Pryamyi”<\/strong> on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Telegram<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2022 Materials published in the \u201cTHOUGHTS\u201d section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.<\/em>
\n\u2022 The editorial board of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author\u2019s material.<\/em>
\n\u2022 The owner of the web page in the \u201cTHOUGHTS\u201d section is the author of the publication.<\/em><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian occupiers are using Ukrainian collaborators and prisoners of war to stage a \u201ccivil war\u201d in Pokrovsk. According to the analytical department of the Right Cause public interest group, these units have been deployed to create the illusion of internal conflict and sow confusion among the local population. This concerns the so-called \u201csquads\u201d named after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":1283570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76872,76991],"class_list":["post-1323026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-opinions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1323026"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1323319,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323026\/revisions\/1323319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1283570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1323026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1323026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}