How Russia tries to turn desperate Ukrainians into traitors

Petro Yatsenko, from the Ukrainian military’s Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, says around 50% of all families of PoWs are contacted by Russian agents.

“They’re in a very vulnerable position and some of them are ready to do anything,” Petro says, “but we are trying to educate them that it won’t help [their loved ones in captivity].”

Petro says an act such as setting fire to a military vehicle isn’t considered a significant material loss to the Ukrainian Armed Forces:

“But it can destabilise the unity of Ukrainian society, so that’s the main problem.

And, of course, if someone shares the location of, for example, air defence systems, that’s a big problem for us too,” he admits.

The authorities don’t publish the numbers of Ukrainians held as prisoners of war, but the number is thought to be more than 8,000.

A source in Ukrainian intelligence told the BBC the number of cases where relatives agree to work with Russia is small.

The Russian government told the BBC in a statement that the allegations it uses prisoners’ families as leverage are “groundless,” and Russia treats “Ukrainian combatants humanely and in full compliance with the Geneva Convention.”

The statement goes on to accuse Ukraine of using the same methods:

“Ukrainian handlers are actively attempting to coerce residents of Russia to commit acts of sabotage and arson within Russian territory, targeting critical infrastructure and civilian facilities.”