After torture and harassment in Russian captivity, some Ukrainians agree to fight on the side of Russia. How exactly is their recruitment and what role do these formations play in the war. Investigation by DW.
Joining the enemy army to escape Russian captivity - this is how 25-year-old Senior Lieutenant Pavel Oleinyk explains his act. Until his capture, he served in the 101st Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
After enduring electric shocks, beatings and psychological abuse, Oleinyk eventually accepted the Russians' offer to join the "Maxim" battalion Krivonos“. According to Oleinik, he took advantage of the first opportunity to reach the front to escape to territory controlled by Ukraine.
Ukrainian "volunteers"
Russian propaganda began writing about detachments formed by former Ukrainian soldiers in early 2023. At that time, it was about the “Volunteer Battalion Bogdan Khmelnytsky“, included in the operational combat tactical formation “Cascade“ in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic.
It was claimed that the battalion was composed of “former Ukrainian prisoners of war“ - about 70 people. Despite the interest shown in it by Ukrainian and independent Russian media, however, only a dozen people were found who expressed their desire to enroll in it. These were really captured or deserted citizens of Ukraine, but since 2024 there has been no talk about the formation and it is not known whether it still exists.
Who is included in the new brigade of Ukrainians?
In August 2026, it was announced in Russia that five such units were merging into the so-called “Ukrainian Volunteer Brigade of Special Purpose“. There is not much data on these battalions. The content of their social media channels mainly includes a review of Ukrainian news with criticism of the authorities and an emphasis on forced mobilization. The messages mention about a dozen people, presented as former soldiers of the Ukrainian army, who were captured or deserted. In most cases, they do not show their faces. There are also no signs of their participation in combat operations.
DV managed to establish the identities of four fighters appearing in a video of one of the units - they were indeed captured by Russia. And although in front of the camera claim that they voluntarily participate in the Russian formation, this cannot be reliably confirmed.
Is the "Maxim Krivonos" battalion participating in the war?
The "Maxim Krivonos" battalion, also part of the brigade, is the most heavily represented in the media. Unlike the others, there are signs of its participation in combat operations - both from Pavel Oleinik and from data from the Security Service of Ukraine. They indicate that the formation was involved in the fighting in the Pokrovskoye direction.
There is also information about previous participation in combat of soldiers from this battalion. Their exact number is unknown - the media mentions about 200 people, but only a few dozen are visible in the distributed videos. The Ukrainian publication "Suspline" has identified over 30 people from the battalion, confirming that they are captured in 2023-2024.
What does Russia need "Ukrainian volunteers" for?
Defense policy expert Pavel Luzin says that volunteer formations that are "not approved and controlled by the central government" are not possible in Russia. According to the expert, the formations of Ukrainians are "an imitation designed to divert attention from the "Russian Volunteer Corps", fighting on the side of Ukraine against Russia. This opinion is also shared by representatives of Ukrainian intelligence.
Ukrainian veteran Yevgeny Shibalov, held in Russian captivity from May to the end of 2022, says the following on this occasion: "The Russian military very often mentioned the "Russian Volunteer Corps" and did not hide that this was the main reason for setting up a counter-formation. They "They were furious that there were Russians fighting on the side of Ukraine, while there were no Ukrainians fighting on the side of Russia."
Is the formation of a group of captured Ukrainians a war crime?
The recruitment of an enemy prisoner of war into one's own armed forces is not a war crime in itself, if it is committed without coercion, legal expert William Wiley told DW. But pressure, threats or violence are a clear violation of the Third Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the lawyer notes.
According to UN data, over 95 percent of Ukrainian prisoners interrogated after their release were subjected to torture or cruel treatment while in Russian captivity. Considering the physical and mental condition of those who returned from Russian captivity, any case of “voluntary” recruitment is most likely quite dubious, Viley is convinced.
However, expert from the Center for Civil Liberties Mikhail Sava does not rule out the possibility that there are also cases in which prisoners voluntarily switched to the Russian side, if they are ideologically closer to the ideology of the occupiers.
How is recruitment carried out and what happens after consent
Ukrainian human rights activist Maksym Butkevich, who was in Russian captivity for two years, told DW that he, like all the prisoners, was offered to switch to the Russian side. In his case, this happened after the first serious beating and as a demonstration that they could do anything to him, which is why he had to agree to everything.
Evgeny Shibalov's experiences are similar. According to him, various structures work with the prisoners - some try to extract a confession for war crimes, others - to recruit for intelligence, and still others select the "valuable" ones for exchange. And he says that all the prisoners were offered participation in "volunteer" formations - after they were put under sufficient psychological pressure.
Neither Butkevich nor Shibalov personally know any Ukrainians who agreed to join the Russian army, since for most this is crossing a red line. Pavel Oleinik, for his part, says that he received such offers four times. After three refusals, he decided to accept - only so that he could escape. According to him, among the former prisoners recruited into the battalion there were both volunteers and people who agreed under duress. There were about 50 of them in total, and they were under constant guard and their every step was controlled. They were allowed to talk on the phone only under surveillance.
Oleynik has been in Ukraine for a year and a half, where he is considered a Russian prisoner of war. At the same time, a pre-trial investigation is underway against him for possible treason committed under martial law. However, he has not been formally charged.