Russia uses prisoners as political weapons against Ukraine - Politico

According to journalists, the Ukrainian soldiers in Russian captivity began to call their relatives. At the same time, they say that Russia is allegedly ready for exchanges, but Ukraine refuses to do so. The Russian Federation uses captives as political weapons, increasing pressure on Ukrainians. About it reports Politico. According to the sources, the Ukrainian soldiers, who are captured in Russia, began to communicate with their native telephone.

At the same time, they claim that Russia allegedly expresses its readiness for the exchange of prisoners, but Ukraine refuses this proposal. "Recently, these calls have become widespread. Therefore, we realized that it was a campaign of distrust of power," Petro Yatsenko said in a comment to the publication of the coordination headquarters.

Valentina Tkachenko, the wife of defender of the Chornobyl NPP, who was captured at the beginning of the invasion, shared that she also received a call from her husband. Previously, she was only able to get a short note with a message: "I'm alive, everything is fine. " She reported that on November 29 this year, her captive husband contacted her through the Viber messenger. The conversation lasted only three minutes and was not allowed to ask questions.

The Ukrainian military in captivity said: "Valya, go, complicate the life of Kiev. Kiev does not want to take us back," and then apologized and interrupted the conversation. The woman decided not to join protests, believing that her husband became an instrument of the Kremlin's political game against Ukraine. According to officially confirmed information, Russia now holds a captivity of 3,000 military defenders and 28 thousand civilians.

However, it should be noted that real figures may be even higher. We will remind, as early as October 13 in Ukrainian intelligence said that Russia does not value the life of its military who are captured in Ukraine. For example, even when Ukraine was the first to transfer to the seriously ill or wounded occupiers of the Russian Federation - they refused to take away all people. Meanwhile, Ukrainian journalists showed the conditions of prisoners of war in Ukraine.