Russians force Ukrainian war prisoners to join their volunteer formations – ISW

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has reported that Russia is forcing Ukrainian prisoners of war to join Russian "volunteer" formations.

Source: the ISW

Details: The Russian authorities are likely forcing Ukrainian prisoners of war to join "volunteer" formations that will fight in Ukraine.

The ISW noted that this is a vivid violation of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War.

The Institute stated that Russian media reported on 27 October that the Bogdan Khmelnitsky volunteer battalion had "recruited" about 70 Ukrainian prisoners of war from various Russian penal colonies, started training them, and will deploy them to an unspecified section of the front after the training is completed.

The ISW emphasised that forcing prisoners of war to participate in hostilities is a violation of the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war, stipulating that "no prisoner of war may at any time be sent to or detained in areas where he may be exposed to the fire of the combat zone" and may not "be employed on labour which is of an unhealthy or dangerous nature". 

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