Russia presents them as Ukrainian “volunteers”, but accounts from former prisoners of war show why that description needs to be treated with caution. Deutsche Welle reports on Ukrainians serving in units under Russian command, citing accounts of pressure, violence and attempts to escape captivity by agreeing to join such a formation. That does not, however, mean that all its members had the same motives.
In a report published on 11 October 2026, Anastasiia Shepeleva tells the story of Pavlo Oliinyk, among others. He told DW that he accepted an offer to join the Maksym Kryvonis battalion to get out of captivity and then escape to Ukrainian-controlled territory. DW contacted him through his lawyer.
Agreeing to join does not tell the whole story
Oliinyk says he was beaten, subjected to electric shocks and psychologically tortured while in Russian captivity. He denies fighting against Ukrainians. According to his account, the battalion included both people who had voluntarily changed sides and others who had been forced to join. These are his accounts as reported by DW, rather than independently established circumstances in each case.
DW also reports that the Ukrainian authorities are investigating possible treason by Oliinyk, but that he has not yet been formally charged. The investigation itself neither establishes his guilt nor determines whether his explanations are true.
Former prisoners Maksym Butkevych and Yevhen Shybalov also told DW about pressure in captivity. They describe offers to cooperate with Russian forces made amid violence and intimidation. Butkevych argues that, in such circumstances, it is difficult to distinguish a voluntary decision from a coerced one. At the same time, he does not rule out ideological motives among some prisoners.
That distinction is central to understanding who these Ukrainian “volunteers” are. The label used to present the formation does not prove that every member had freedom of choice. Equally, accounts of coercion do not automatically establish that everyone joined against their will.
Unknown numbers, differing motives
According to DW, reports of Russian units made up of Ukrainian prisoners of war and former Ukrainian military personnel began appearing in late 2022. In August 2026, several units were merged into a formation described as the “Ukrainian Volunteer Special Forces Brigade”. The report therefore examines a practice developing over several years, rather than a single new recruitment case.
One of the units described is the Maksym Kryvonis battalion. Its actual size remains unknown. DW cites findings by Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne, which identified more than 30 battalion members: former Ukrainian military personnel taken prisoner by Russian forces in 2023–2024. That figure refers to the group identified, not the unit’s full strength.
Speaking to DW, expert Pavel Luzin argues that creating such formations is an attempt to imitate units of Russian citizens fighting on Ukraine’s side. This is his interpretation of their purpose, not a confirmed statement of intent by the Russian authorities.
The accounts reported by DW describe people with different motives and experiences. For former prisoners, the key questions remain the conditions in which they agreed to cooperate and what they subsequently did. The word “volunteer” alone answers neither.
