Pavlo Oliynyk, 25, says he joined enemy forces to escape Russian captivity.
asserted
he → say → captivity
As a prisoner of war (POW), he says he was electrocuted, beaten and psychologically tortured.
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he → say → war
So when he received the offer to join the Maksym Kryvonis battalion — named after a famous 17th-century Cossack commander — he accepted.
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he → receive → commander
Oliynyk says he wanted to use this opportunity to reach the front lines, so he could escape to Ukrainian-controlled territory.
uncertain
he → say → territory
DW was able to contact Oliynyk through his lawyer.
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DW → contact → lawyer
'Ukrainian volunteers' consist mostly of POWs
Reports of Russian combat units consisting of Ukrainian prisoners of war and former service members of Ukraine's armed forces began emerging in late 2022.
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Reports → consist → 2022
Several detachments were initially formed and in August 2026, they were merged into the so-called "Ukrainian Volunteer Special Forces Brigade."
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they → form → Brigade
Of the individual units, the Maksym Kryvonis battalion has perhaps drawn the most public attention for having evidently taken part in combat.
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battalion → draw → combat
Its true size is unknown — Russian media reports claim about 200 fighters while available footage only suggests several dozen.
uncertain
footage → claim → dozen
An investigative team of the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne has identified over 30 members and confirmed they are all former Ukrainian servicemen, captured by Russian forces between 2023 and 2024.
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they → identify → 2023
An 'imitation' of Russian legions fighting for Ukraine
Pavel Luzin, an expert for Russian foreign policy and defense at the Center for European Policy Analysis, believes these units are an "imitation" of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion — units in the Ukrainian armed forces, consisting of Russian citizens — and an attempt by Moscow to distract from the fact that these units exist in the first place.
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units → fight → place
Ukrainian intelligence services tend to agree.
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services → tend → ?
"It bothers them that Russians would fight on Ukraine's side, but Ukrainians won't fight on Russia's side," Yevhen Shybalov, author and veteran of the war in Ukraine, told DW.
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Shybalov → bother → DW
He added that Russian troops have never tried to hide the fact that Russian volunteer units in Ukrainian ranks were the main reason Russian forces wanted to create Ukrainian units for their owns ranks.
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forces → add → ranks
In 2025, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that 95% of the released Ukrainian POWs interviewed reported torture or ill-treatment during Russian captivity.
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% → report → captivity
Bill Wiley, executive director of the NGO Commission for International Justice and Accountability, said the physical and psychological state of the returned combatants raises serious doubts that their recruitment was voluntary.
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recruitment → say → doubts
Mykhailo Savva of the Center for Civil Liberties, a Kyiv-based human rights organization, points to the criminal procedures running against several of the battalion members, which he said indicates that these suggest the combatants had switched sides voluntarily.
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combatants → base → sides
The war veteran and human rights activist Maksym Butkevych, who spent 28 months as a prisoner of war, said the conditions in Russian captivity make that line hard to distinguish.
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line → spend → captivity
On the one hand, he said, there is a constant atmosphere of pressure, and on the other hand, it's not implausible that some prisoners defected out of ideological proximity.
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prisoners → say → proximity
How were Ukrainian prisoners made to join Russian forces?
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prisoners → make → forces
Butkevych told DW that between 2022 and 2023, all Ukrainian prisoners of war had received offers, "more or less persistently," to join the Russian army.
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prisoners → tell → army
In his case, he recounted, it was after he had been severely mistreated.
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he → recount → case
"They showed us they could do anything they wanted to us," he explained, "which was why we should agree to everything."
uncertain
we → show → everything
The veteran Shybalov reported similar experiences, speaking of attempts to force confessions of war crimes, or to recruit members for Russia's intelligence services.
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Shybalov → report → services
He told DW all prisoners were first interrogated and then made certain propositions under duress.
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prisoners → tell → duress
"You can torture people to get them to confess, but there comes the difficult moment when you need to give them a weapon," he said.
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he → torture → weapon
"That's why it's more about psychological pressure, and forcing voluntary compliance."
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it → force → compliance
Butkevych confirmed these accounts with his own tales.
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Butkevych → confirm → tales
But neither veteran has ever met someone willing to join Russian units, they said.
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they → meet → units
What happens after conscription?
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What → happen → conscription
Oliynyk, from the Maksym Kryvonis battalion, said he initially turned down multiple bids to join Russian forces.
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he → say → forces
He said he only accepted the fourth offer so he could flee.
uncertain
he → say → offer
He claimed he didn't sign official Defense Ministry paperwork, but a private contract with an individual offering military services.
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he → claim → services
Afterwards, he said, he was brought to a room where he heard lectures and saw videos and photos he was later asked to retell.
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he → say → videos
Control and mistreatment
Oliynyk said fellow service members in the Maksym Kryvonis battalion consisted both of those who had switched sides of their own volition, and those who had been forced.
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who → say → volition
In a video circulating online that appears to be of a trial in Ukraine, he also says former Ukrainian POWs in the unit were followed and guarded by mercenaries of the private Russian military company Redut.
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POWs → circulate → company
In the same video, he also speaks of beatings and torture, and receiving monthly wages in envelopes handed out by a member of Russia's military intelligence.
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he → speak → intelligence
Oliynyk told DW he had been given a phone, but that he was too scared to call anyone in Ukraine because it was under constant surveillance.
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it → tell → surveillance
He denied having fought against Ukrainians, as he fled in March 2025 before his first deployment in the Donetsk province.
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he → deny → province
After running across a field, he said he spent two days hiding from drones in basements and houses before making contact with Ukrainian fighters.
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he → run → fighters
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
