This refers to the so-called "detachments" named after Alexander Matrosov and Martyn Pushkar. Corresponding video evidence has already been handed over to special services for the identification of the traitors.Notably, the Russians are trying to present this almost as an element of a "civil war," meaning Ukrainians are fighting against Ukrainians.According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, Russia has created four units controlled by the Main Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff. These are the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi battalion, the Maksym Kryvonos battalion, the Martyn Pushkar detachment, and the Alexander Matrosov detachment.These are the units that recruit Ukrainian soldiers who have been captured.According to Russian State Duma deputy Vodolatsky, captured soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who allegedly refused to be exchanged and return home are being enlisted in a "Ukrainian battalion under the command of the Russian Armed Forces.""Today, there are prisoners of war who refuse to return home and want to stay here. Some, after being vetted, sign contracts with units formed from soldiers of the Ukrainian army under the command of the Russian Armed Forces," he stated.It is worth recalling that on September 24, 2022, the Russian propaganda outlet TASS reported that Ukrainian prisoners of war held in the Olenivka camp had "asked" the authorities of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" to allow them to fight in the "Bohdan Khmelnytskyi volunteer Cossack battalion" of the so-called "DPR."And by October 2023, the Russian propaganda agency RIA Novosti reported that the first battalion of former Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers—the "volunteer battalion" named after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi—had entered service with the Russian operational-combat tactical formation Kaskad. This "battalion" was formed on the territory of the so-called "DPR" from Ukrainian prisoners of war. The Russian media reported at the time that about 70 Ukrainian prisoners of war had volunteered for the "battalion." After combat coordination, the occupiers planned to redeploy this unit to the front line.Incidentally, it is no coincidence that this formation was included in the Kaskad battalion, which is headed by another traitor to Ukraine, former SBU colonel Khodokovsky.I will note that the appearance of information about this unit on October 27, 2023, was not accidental. The day before, information appeared in the media that a battalion of Russian citizens had been formed within the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The propagandists' mistake was that in spreading information that the "battalion" was undergoing combat coordination, they made a serious error—the fighters had not taken an oath. At that moment, the "battalion" existed only on paper or in the Russian imagination.A battalion consists of at least 800–1,000 personnel. But after a year, the Russians are citing a figure of 70 people when talking about the number of prisoners who volunteered for this unit. "That is, even under conditions of physical and moral pressure from the invading Russian forces, lack of information, and torture, which Ukrainian prisoners of war endure, the Russians have not been able to form a real military unit over a long period."The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine did not confirm the use of the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi battalion, formed from Ukrainian prisoners in the so-called "DPR," by the Russians on the front lines."It has been over a year since the information about the creation of the so-called Bohdan Khmelnytskyi battalion was released, and for the most part, it has been an information-psychological special operation. Currently, the combat use of this unit has not been recorded," stated intelligence representative Andriy Yusov in a comment to Ukrinform in November 2024.Russian propaganda uses units formed from Ukrainian prisoners, which are controlled by the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff, to reinforce narratives about "Ukrainian fascism," the "illegitimate Kyiv regime," and a "civil war" in Ukraine. Furthermore, Russian propagandists are trying to create a "picture" of supposedly mass collaboration and the readiness of Ukrainians to fight on the side of the Russian forces against their own state.However, cases of collaboration among Ukrainian prisoners are isolated and not widespread.According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, they have verified information about 62 contracts signed by Ukrainian prisoners of war with the Russian Ministry of Defence to participate in the war against Ukraine in these units. There is even one soldier from the Maksym Kryvonos battalion who was captured by our forces.It is worth noting that the use of Ukrainian prisoners of war in these "battalions" is a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The document prohibits the use of prisoners in military activities on the side of the power that captured them and also states that no prisoner of war may at any time be sent to or detained in areas where he may be exposed to the fire of the combat zone.Currently, Russia holds Ukrainian prisoners in more than 300 colonies without access for international organizations and human rights defenders. These camps are located in Russia, Belarus, and the occupied territories of Ukraine.Over 90% of Ukrainian soldiers who have returned from captivity state that they were tortured. They were also deprived of adequate sleep and food.Specially for EspresoAbout the author. Dmytro Sniehyrov, military expert, co-head of the Prava Sprava public initiative.The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.