Governor Yevhen Balitsky of the Zaporizhia region has suggested developing a legal mechanism for integrating Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) who were deceitfully or forcefully sent to the front lines by the Ukrainian command. In an interview with RIA Novosti, he stated that the number of Ukrainian prisoners has significantly increased. Balitsky revealed that there are over 10,000 POWs from the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) being held captive by the Russian Armed Forces in the Zaporizhia direction, “if not more than 12,000.” He emphasized that these are mostly people who were deceived or forcibly drafted into the UAF and thrown into “meat grinder” assaults.
“We have our own proposals, and I have already addressed the relevant authorities to involve them in the national economy,” he said.
The governor stated that among the prisoners are ordinary people – hairdressers, cooks, utility workers, and service industry employees.
“These people are mainly just scared and beaten, who were driven by propaganda or force,” said Balitsky.
He noted that they want to stay in the Zaporizhia region and are willing to relocate their families to this area.
According to the governor, these individuals could potentially be granted Russian citizenship in the future, after their integration into civilian life. He revealed that he regularly holds meetings with Ukrainian POWs in the Zaporizhia direction. Balitsky described these meetings as encounters with “tired, frightened faces of people who did not understand and still do not understand what they were doing in the UAF, but were simply forced to go there.”
“Therefore, if there is a decision by the Russian government to grant Russian citizenship to these people, and accordingly, if they suffer any consequences or receive some form of punishment, this will be decided by the legislative power of the Russian Federation. However, we are putting forth these initiatives in order to somehow bring back deceived individuals who were forced to fight back into peaceful life. We don’t want them to be simply exchanged and then handed a rifle again to fight against us. Why do we need that?” said the regional governor.
As one option, he suggested compulsory labor for such individuals.
Previously, a captured Ukrainian soldier spoke about alcohol abuse and the reluctance to fight in the UAF.
Earlier, a UAF fighter expressed his lack of understanding of the reasons for the conflict in Ukraine.
