After release from captivity, Russian POWs often 'sent back to die' in Ukraine

For Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), release from captivity can feel like escaping hell. But for Russian POWs, it might mean walking straight into another.

Lengthy interrogations by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), criminal prosecution, and forced return to the front line are often what await Russian POWs after they return home, despite efforts from the Kremlin to disguise it.

"(Russian) propagandists film videos where the released POWs appear to be having fun on cue. But we understand this is all just a facade," Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War,  told the Kyiv Independent.

"They are being sent back to die and invade a foreign land," he says. "Their return home is nothing like the return of our men and women," he says.

In early June, the independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe reported, citing the human rights group "Idite Lesom," that Russian POWs returned in the largest 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange in May were sent back to their military units and could potentially be redeployed to the front lines in Ukraine.

"Relatives of the soldiers have repeatedly said that after the exchange, they were not even allowed to see their loved ones; men, including the wounded, were simply sent straight to the front lines," Novaya Gazeta wrote.

Prisoner swaps have remained one of the few active channels of communication between Ukraine and Russia, even after Kyiv severed diplomatic ties with Moscow in 2022.

As of late July, Ukraine has secured the return of more than 5,857 individuals — both soldiers and civilians — through more than 65 prisoner exchanges since Feb. 24, 2022.

Russia, however, does not publicly disclose the number of POWs returned from Ukrainian captivity. In 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that approximately 1,350 Russian soldiers remained in Ukrainian captivity.

Details about Russian POWs who return from Ukrainian captivity are typically kept under wraps as Russia rarely reveals who they are, referring only in general terms to servicemen from specific regions.

The lack of transparency continues after their return, as the public is given virtually no insight into what becomes of them.

Different conditions

Ukrainian and Russian POWs face vastly different realities in captivity and upon their return.

In Ukraine, Russian POWs are primarily held in five specialized camps set up after the start of the full-scale invasion. Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations, as well as journalists, have access to Russian POWs and the facilities where they're held.

The inspections by ICRC take place every two months and can last several days, Yatsenko told the Kyiv Independent earlier in June.

In Russia, there are no specialized camps for Ukrainian POWs outlined by the Third Geneva Convention. Instead, captured soldiers and civilians are held in more than 180 detention sites across the country, according to Yatsenko.

While there are no credible reports of Russian POWs being tortured in captivity, Ukrainian POWs are routinely subjected to torture and inhumane treatment while in Russia.

Upon their return home, Russian POWs usually do not require rehabilitation or medical assistance, unlike Ukrainian POWs, many of whom come back severely underweight and suffering from serious health issues.