Several servicemen of the Russian Federation have expressed a desire to remain in Ukraine, fearing for their lives after returning from captivity.
They stated this at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Wednesday, March 9.
One of the prisoners, Andrey Chebotarevskyy of the motor rifle division No.2, said, "In Russia, we are already considered dead. I was given the opportunity to call my parents, and they told me that they had received “killed in action” notice," he said.
According to him, "If we are exchanged, we will be shot by our own."
He also denied the information that only contract soldiers are fighting in the Russian army in Ukraine. "There are conscript soldiers here, they are at this table," he said.
Another serviceman, Yevhenii Smirnov, said he was "shocked when he was shown, while in captivity, what the Russian army was doing in Ukraine."
"Civilians live in bunkers, the army shoots the elderly," he said. The prisoner also noted that in Russia he would be "either imprisoned or shot."
Smirnov noted that "12,000 Russian troops have been killed, and many Ukrainian people have died."
Alexei Babikhin, a 19-year-old Russian, said he wanted to stay in Ukraine while the Putin regime remained in Russia.
As reported earlier, Russian invaders are being taken prisoner even by Ukrainian farmers.