320 prisoners of war from Kursk Oblast were held in Sumy prison in Ukraine – NYT

A Russian prisoner of war. Photo: NYT

A Ukrainian prison in the city of Sumy houses 320 prisoners of war from Kursk Oblast, 80 percent of whom are conscripts.

source: The New York Times quoted the prison warden as asking that his identity be kept secret for security reasons.

Details: The journalists stressed that these figures cannot be verified. The prisoners are now being taken to western Ukraine, away from the fighting zones.

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On Friday, at the time of the journalists' visit, there were 71 prisoners of war in the prison. The prisoners are being held in basement cells to protect them from possible air raids.

Some prisoners had shrapnel or gunshot wounds.

Prisoners said they were housed in trains of about 30 people in concrete or earthen fortifications about 1.5 kilometers apart along the border. There they were suddenly attacked violently and quickly stopped fighting.

Igor, a 21-year-old prisoner of war who was drafted in December, said Ukrainian artillery attacks had increased in the days before the invasion. “We reported to the commanders, but they didn't react,” he said. “They said, 'Well, there's nothing we can do about it.'”

On the day of the attack, he tried to hide in a fortress under artillery fire, but it caught fire.

Igor said he and other soldiers ran into the nearest forest. Of his 12-man group who tried to get to safety, only five survived, he said.

Sergei, a 20-year-old soldier from Tatarstan, said his platoon commander led 28 soldiers in a chaotic retreat from their position. They hid in a village house but were found by Ukrainian soldiers. All the Russians surrendered.

The platoon leader shouted through the window: “There are conscripts here. We want to surrender.”

The newspaper noted that the Ukrainian offensive stopped well across the border, facing better-trained Russian troops. However, the Ukrainian military is still capturing conscripts in Kursk Oblast.

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