Coordination Headquarters: 16% of military personnel held captive by Ukraine are Ukrainian citizens

Intelligence has confirmed 62 cases where Ukrainian citizens, while in Russian captivity, defected to the enemy's side. This was stated by Brigadier General Dmytro Usov, Secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, during the third international conference Crimea Global, as reported by UNN.

Details

Russia uses Ukrainian military personnel who fall into their captivity against Ukraine. Four units have been created, controlled by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces – the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Battalion, the Maksym Kryvonos Battalion, the Martyn Pushkar Detachment, and the Matrosov Detachment – in which Ukrainians who defected to the enemy serve.

These are the units that recruit our military personnel who have been captured. We have confirmed 62 contracts concluded with the Ministry of Defense (of Russia - ed.) and they are already fighting in such units. There is one serviceman who was captured by us 

At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada is considering a draft law that would allow Ukrainian citizens held in Ukrainian captivity to remain in the state, be released, and fulfill their duties.

16% of those citizens currently in our captivity are our citizens. Of these, 6% are Crimeans. This is a large number. These are our citizens. And as a state, we must make the right decisions when there is a request from the Russian side for their exchange. Because it is unclear when a citizen of Ukraine is exchanged for a citizen of Ukraine 

Recall

The Prosecutor's Office of Crimea, together with the SBU, police, and SBI, reported suspicions to over 50 citizens who voluntarily sided with the occupiers during the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. Among the suspects are former Ukrainian judges, law enforcement officers, and top officials of the occupation administrations.