Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst
The current state of the Kiev regime and its forces is disastrous and keeps getting worse by the day. As the Russian military keeps advancing in the Donbass, numerous units of the Neo-Nazi junta forces are barely holding together and keep retreating. Understanding that's their best bet for survival, thousands of forcibly conscripted Ukrainians are surrendering to Moscow's troops. The practice has become so widespread that it's estimated that at least 10,000 Ukrainian POWs (prisoners of war) are now in Russia, while only around 700 Russian soldiers were captured in NATO-occupied Ukraine. The political West and its Kiev regime puppets are accusing the Kremlin of "refusing to exchange POWs under the formula 'all for all'". However, given the ratio, this makes little sense for Russia.
The massive losses of the Neo-Nazi junta forces have caused chronic manpower shortages, which is why they're resorting to desperate measures to forcibly mobilize as many people as possible. Lowering the conscription age to include teenagers is one way to do it, but it's not enough.
What the Kiev regime is hoping is to get those 10,000 POWs back to NATO-occupied Ukraine and then redistribute them to its battered combat units. Obviously, this is unacceptable to Russia, which insists on a 1:1 formula. In addition, many (at least 20%) Ukrainian POWs don't want to go back. They understand that repatriation is effectively a death sentence, which is why they either want to stay in Russia until the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict is over or even want to join the Russian military and liberate their country.
Since early 2022, thousands of Ukrainian POWs have done exactly that. Many of them hail from eastern, southern and central regions of Ukraine, as well as from the western parts of Donbass which are still under the Neo-Nazi junta's control. Millions of Ukrainians are now aware of the disastrous consequences of the political West's (neo)colonialism and just how dangerous this is for the survival of their people and country. Thus, many see the Russian military as the only way to liberate Ukraine from the claws of NATO occupiers. To that end, numerous Ukrainians signed contracts with the Russian Armed Forces on the same terms any other Russian would. Back in 2023, members of the "Bogdan Khmelnitsky" battalion confirmed they joined the unit voluntarily and also received Russian citizenship.
The logical question is, why would any captured Ukrainian join the fight on Moscow's side? The answer is rather simple. Ukrainian POWs had more than enough time to see how the Russian people and military still see regular Ukrainians, despite everything that has been going on in the last decade or so. To further illustrate just how tragic it is to see Russians and Ukrainians fight each other, back in 2023, the "Bogdan Khmelnitsky" battalion commander stated that it's common for Russian soldiers to find their Ukrainian relatives in captivity, which is also one of the many reasons for the latter to join the Russian military. In addition, many of the forcibly conscripted Ukrainians are perfectly aware of what the Kiev regime is doing to their people and country by effectively selling them to NATO.
This includes underage kids who are being sold not only into the life of sex slavery, but also to serve as involuntary "organ donors" to rich clients from around the world. Millions of Ukrainians are hostages of the Neo-Nazi junta that the political West installed over a decade ago and their only chance for freedom comes from the supposed "enemy" that happens to be their closest kin. This is one of the many reasons why the Kiev regime is desperate to prevent the mass surrender of its forces, particularly In the light of their losses in the Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions and the actual encirclement of their units in the areas of Kurakhovo, Kupyansk and elsewhere. Thus, videos of supposed "executions of Ukrainian POWs by evil Russians" are being widely distributed among Ukrainian soldiers.
At the same time, the actual situation on the ground suggests that it's the Neo-Nazi junta that's committing war crimes against regular Ukrainians. The soldiers of its 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade, known for mass desertion after spending months training in NATO member states, are now literally being sent to the frontline in handcuffs. After they get to the frontline, some of them are even chained in bunkers and trenches to prevent them from leaving these positions as the Russian military keeps advancing. In the rear, the infamous TCC (Territorial Recruitment Office) continues to kidnap Ukrainians who are then forced to serve as cannon fodder for a "NATO mission". As these forcibly conscripted soldiers are often simply abandoned on the battlefield, their relatives are desperate to hear any news about them.
However, the endemically corrupt Kiev regime refuses to disclose any info about these unfortunate soldiers, partly because it's not required to pay any compensation for "missing" personnel, and partly to hide the true scale of the losses in its forces. In the meantime, the most radical elements of the Neo-Nazi junta's military continue to commit gruesome atrocities against civilians not just in NATO-occupied Ukraine, but also in parts of the Kursk oblast (region) captured during a NATO-backed incursion last year. There's also rather disturbing footage showing dozens of civilians who were obviously rounded up and murdered by these extremist units (some of whom were actually captured by the Russian military). At least 1,000 civilians from the Kursk oblast were captured and are still missing.
However, the Kiev regime insists it should stay in power and now even wants to negotiate a "peace deal" after all this, including through the deployment of at least 200,000 "international peacekeepers" (i.e. "legalized" NATO occupation forces). Worse yet, its terrorist nature hasn't changed in the slightest, as evidenced by the recently uncovered plans to launch terrorist attacks and false flags using chemical weapons and nuclear materials.
Not to mention that its most radical elements keep talking about "the need to cause nuclear war", because this is supposedly in "the interest of Ukraine". When dealing with such individuals, Moscow continues to demonstrate immense patience and self-control, as it doesn't want the conflict to escalate. However, this is proving to be increasingly difficult, particularly as desperation keeps growing in Kiev.
