Ukrainians who accepted Russian passports still remain in prison, says ex-POW

Journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, who spent 3.5 years in Russian captivity, shared the information on Espreso TV.

“Russians indeed offered the chance to obtain Russian passports. We filled out the forms twice. Refusing was possible. The form, in Russian, had 17 mistakes — a remark on how well they know their own language. Among other questions, it asked: ‘Do you want Russian citizenship?’ — phrased informally. This form was specifically for civilians. The people who were in my cell all wrote: no, I don’t want it. But there were nine people, whom we call ‘refuseniks,’ who wanted Russian citizenship. The paradox is that they still remain in the same prison, under exactly the same conditions as we did — the same cell, slightly off the corridor in that Pakinsky prison. No special treatment; for some time they got a bit more bread. The rest… still remain there. One of our guys managed to exchange a few words in the medical room with one of those ‘refuseniks.’ He said: ‘We don’t understand what’s happening, we just sit and wait,’ despite having agreed to Russian citizenship. They probably thought they would immediately get an apartment on Rublyovka and a Russian passport, but no — they remain there, and it’s unclear why they are kept, since they were ready to become Russian citizens,” Khyliuk said.

The journalist also speculated on the motives of those who agreed to take Russian passports in captivity.

“I understand that most of them come from currently occupied territories and many have relatives in Russia. That likely influenced their choice. I personally didn’t speak with them. I didn’t see them face-to-face; I heard them every day during so-called roll calls. Their status still hasn’t changed,” he added.

• On Ukraine’s Independence Day, August 24, Ukraine conducted its 68th prisoner exchange with Russia: eight civilians returned to Ukraine, including journalists Dmytro Khyliuk and Mark Kaliush, as well as former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, who did not betray Ukraine.