About 20% of captured Russians surrender voluntarily – Ukraine's Defence Intelligence chief
A fifth of the Russian soldiers who fall into Ukrainian captivity surrender voluntarily, said Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence.
Source: Budanov, in an interview with Krym.Realii (Crimea.Realities, a project by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Quote: "It's definitely around 20%. It's just [those Russians say]: I'm scared, I don't care."
Details: Budanov added, however, that the so-called "exchange fund" [the stock of prisoners who can be swapped - ed.] in Ukraine is much smaller than in Russia.
Quote: "We have much less, it's true, because the Russian Federation seized a terrifying number of hostages here in the early days of the invasion, including civilians, retired members of the security forces, people they just thought would cause problems for them, and so on. That's why our numbers, unfortunately, are lower. We need to understand that."
Details: Budanov refused to name the exact number of captured Russians because it is a state secret, but at the same time he expressed the opinion that "unfortunately, we won’t be able to catch up with those [Russian - ed.] figures".
Background:
- In February, the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that since 15 September 2022, the I Want to Live project had received more than 7,600 applications from Russians and residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to surrender.
- I Want to Live is a government project designed to help the military of the Russian Federation and Belarus safely surrender. The project was launched in September 2022 by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which operates with the support of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.
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