1/ Russian prisoners of war are being sent straight into to front line assault squads after being released from Ukrainian captivity. They are denied family reunions, interrogated by the FSB, and in some cases prosecuted. Many have attempted suicide. ⬇️
2/ Relatives of released Russian POWs have appealed to the Russian authorities to allow their loved ones to return home. Instead, they say, the men are being sent straight back into combat without even being able to see their families.
3/ In one video appeal published last month, the wife of captured Russian soldier Alexey Frolov says that he is awaiting his turn to be exchanged after a year in captivity. She asks the authorities to let him come home, rather than being sent straight back.
4/ 23-year-old Kirill Putintsev joined the army in May 2024 from a prison and was captured less than a month later, having suffered various injuries. He was eventually released in May 2025. However, he and the other POWs released with him were not allowed even to meet relatives. 
5/ Instead, his sister Yana says, "they were interrogated several times [by FSB officers]. And immediately after that, Kirill was thrown back to Ukraine – to unit No. 95396 [1454th Motorised Rifle Regiment]. There they told him directly: "You will not get any leave."
6/ "And there can be no talk of discharging him! They even refused to send him to a military medical commission. And they put him back into service with a torn back and no fingers."
7/ Putintsev subsequently suffered a mental breakdown, attempted suicide, and was hospitalised. His comrades say many other soldiers have also tried to kill themselves after returning from captivity.
8/ "No one wants to go back,” a soldier with the regiment says. "A few were lucky enough to get sent to a hospital. Others were just patched up and sent back. We’ve all been assigned to unit No. 42038. They’re sending us on assault missions."
9/ Others have faced prosecution for being captured. In May 2023, the Russian parliament passed a law banning surrender. Russian soldiers are expected to fight to the death unless they are too badly injured to resist.
10/ In April 2025, a Russian court sentenced 42-year-old Roman Ivanishin to 15 years' imprisonment for surrendering on 10 June 2023. His commander attempted to prevent his surrender by shelling his position, but two Russians nearby were killed when Ukrainian forces fired back.
11/ Ivanishin described it as "just hell". A relative says, "Not only are you fighting and don't understand what for, but your own people are setting you up all the time: they'll send you into an assault without support, or put you in a pit, or beat you up while you're drunk."
12/ Ivanishin was returned to Russia in January 2024 as part of a group of 248 POWs. He was sent back to Sakhalin in the Russian Far East and was immediately arrested. He spent more than a year in pre-trial detention before his conviction earlier this year.
13/ Russia has a long history of treating returning POWs with suspicion and hostility. Just as in World War II, it appears that POWs are going through 'filtration' by the secret police – the NKVD then, the FSB now – to assess their loyalty and possible culpability.
14/ Russian conscripts captured by Ukraine during its 2024 incursion into the Kursk region have reported particularly brutal – and illegal – treatment. Those who returned from captivity a few months later reported being forced to sign contracts to make them permanent soldiers.
15/ Relatives of 25-year-old Grigory Savinkov say that he and other ex-POW conscripts were threatened with criminal prosecution and physical violence unless they signed a military contract. Men are said to have been imprisoned in pits and chained up to 'persuade' them.
16/ The Russian authorities' attitude appears to be that surrendering is a shameful act for which POWs must atone – either by going straight into assault squads, with a high chance of death, or if they are conscripts, by joining the army for indefinite service. /end
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