Most of the captured fighters Ukraine returned to Moscow as part of a prisoner exchange this month were ex-convicts who had been recruited by the Russian Ministry of Defense while serving prison sentences.
On Tuesday, the Kyiv Post said Ukraine returned 248 POWs to Russia on Jan. 3, the first prisoner exchange between the two countries in six months. Of that number, 180 — or 73% — had been in prison before they joined the military.
“Although Ukraine had initially prepared a larger list of Russian servicemen for exchange, the final numbers requested by Russia primarily consisted of former prisoners,” the Kyiv Post said.
The list included captured Russian fighters who had been convicted of crimes such as murder, kidnapping, robbery and extortion. One of the released POWs was identified as Oleg Shunin, who had been sentenced to 11 years in a high-security prison in January 2023 for murder. The Kyiv Post said there is limited information about his current status in Moscow.
According to Our Way Out, a support organization started by relatives of Russian POWS, the Kremlin prefers to include former inmates in prisoner exchange programs because they could be easily manipulated to return to the front, the Kyiv Post said.
Also on the list of the prisoner swap was Anton Mescheryakov, a former inmate from Leningrad who had been recruited into the army while serving a five-year sentence for narcotics. According to the Kyiv Post, he joined the army because he had two years left to serve in jail and little chance for parole.
“His family are worried that a video in which he criticized the Russian command while in captivity might cause problems for him,” the Kyiv Post said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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