How Russian prisoners of war see Putin’s invasion
And how they are treated by Ukraine
ANDREY WAS in prison for murder in Russia’s Ivanovo region, north-east of Moscow, when army recruiters came by and offered him a good salary and a record wiped clean in exchange for six months’ service. Two weeks after arriving at the front he stepped on a mine, lost his foot and was saved by Ukrainian troops. “If I had known the consequences of joining, I would not have done it,” he says dryly. Now he is reading a crime thriller in a prisoner-of-war camp near Lviv, hoping he will be exchanged soon.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “According to the conventions”
Europe August 19th 2023
- Germany is becoming expert at defeating itself
- Ukraine’s counter-offensive is making progress, slowly
- Poland’s far right could be the next government’s kingmaker
- How Russian prisoners of war see Putin’s invasion
- French bakeries are thriving in unlikely places
- Having shaken off nationalism, Europe risks civilisationalism
From the August 19th 2023 edition
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