Ukraine has captured scores of Russian soldiers in Kursk offensive, videos show

A Ukrainian soldier on patrol in a town in Russia's Kursk region. Photo / Getty Images

Ukrainian forces have captured more than 240 Russian soldiers since their surprise invasion of Russia’s Kursk region this month, according to an analysis of visual evidence that includes mass detentions of young troops appearing to surrender without resistance.

The Washington Post reviewed more than 130 photos and videos taken since the incursion began on August 6, most of which appear to have been filmed by Ukrainian soldiers and shared on social media. The analysis included photos taken by a Post photographer at a prison housing captured Russian soldiers in Ukraine. The verified visuals depict at least 247 Russian prisoners and support Ukrainian officials’ claims to have captured hundreds of Russians during the incursion.

Some of the captured troops identify themselves in the videos as conscripts, Russians who are serving mandatory time in the military. Conscripts are not generally expected to face battle, and their capture in recent days creates a politically sensitive problem for Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to analysts.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a video of Russian soldiers surrendering en masse like that,” said Dara Massicot, a senior fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “My instinct upon seeing those videos was that those soldiers were not combat-experienced troops who have been fighting inside Ukraine.”

The visuals showed prisoners being taken in locations that spanned more than 22km across territory on Russia’s side of the border with Ukraine.

New videos and photos continue to be posted online, and the Post did not count prisoners seen in visuals it could not independently verify, meaning the true number of Russian prisoners taken during the offensive is much higher.

In seven videos verified by the Post, prisoners refer to themselves as conscripts — men aged 18-30 who are serving a mandatory year of military service. Conscripted troops are not paid and are poorly trained, and Putin has made pledges they will not be sent into combat, though Russian law allows it as long as they have had four months of basic training.

“Having conscripts in combat undermines the social contract between Russian families and the government that has held under Putin’s leadership since 1999,” Massicot said.

Several videos filmed less than half a mile inside Russia, in the village of Sverdlikovo, show at least 29 captured Russian soldiers. Flanked by armed Ukrainian soldiers and with their arms raised above their heads, they are filmed by a drone as they march north along a small road lined with trees and homes on one side.

In other videos, they are on the same road lying face down or kneeling with their hands behind their backs. One Ukrainian soldier films the captured soldiers as they state their names and military units to the camera.

Near the Sudzha border crossing, several videos show the capture of at least 40 Russian soldiers. Drone footage shows the destruction of buildings in the checkpoint and Russian troops raising white flags in surrender.

The Ukrainian military, which shared the video on its official channels, said the operation had been conducted by its 80th Air Assault Brigade, supported by artillery and heavy armoured vehicles.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights groups have stated recording and disseminating even statements that appear voluntary by prisoners of war violates rules against exposing them to “public curiosity” because they are inherently vulnerable and their wellbeing depends entirely on an enemy power.

Neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian government has said how many Russian prisoners have been taken prisoner so far during the Kursk offensive.

The head of a prison in northeast Ukraine holding soldiers taken during the offensive told a reporter from the Post during a visit this month that 320 Russians had passed through his facility in the previous 10 days on their way to other prison camps in Ukraine. About 80% of the Russian soldiers being held in the Ukrainian prison visited by the Post were conscripts, the prison chief said.

‘Fragile narrative’ in Russia

Before the Kursk invasion, Putin said Russia was holding 6465 Ukrainian soldiers and Ukraine was holding 1348 Russian soldiers, meaning the number of new prisoners taken during the Kursk offensive could represent a large portion of all Russian prisoners held by Ukraine.

It’s not clear whether taking prisoners was planned as part of the Kursk offensive or a coincidental “cherry on top”, said Mathieu Boulègue, a non-resident senior fellow with the Transatlantic Defence and Security Programme at the Centre for European Policy Analysis.

“I was not expecting so many easy surrenders,” he said. “But it also shows how fragile the war narrative is in Russia, and it also shows how desperate probably these soldiers are who would much rather be with Ukraine in Ukrainian prisons or cells than fighting for Russia.”

Russian forces in the area of the Kursk offensive were probably surprised, under the control of various ministries or organisations that didn’t communicate well, and inexperienced in combat, all of which contributed to Ukraine’s success, Massicot said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has referred to the capture of so many Russian prisoners as refilling the “exchange fund” — soldiers to trade for captured Ukrainian troops. Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, has said they will prioritise the return of Azov Brigade fighters who were captured during Ukraine’s defence of the eastern city of Mariupol more than two years ago.

The return of those prisoners has been a sensitive issue in Ukraine, with large demonstrations calling for their freedom taking place most weekends. Hundreds are believed to still be in Russian captivity.