Yevhen describes the opposite mentality. He says choosing to defend Ukraine — and believing in something bigger than survival — helped him endure torture, isolation, and captivity near Bakhmut after being captured in 2022. 7/
Full-scale invasion and national resilience, broadcasted live.
-
Andrii wounded by drone mine, spent 2.5 months in Ukrainian trenches
Another Russian prisoner, Andrii, says Ukrainian drones dropped an anti-tank mine near him and left him unconscious. When he woke up, his comrades were gone or dead. He spent 2.5 months wounded in trenches with Ukrainian soldiers guarding him. 5/
-
Russian prisoner says war is drones and explosions, not rifle duels
One Russian prisoner says he thought combat would mean “rifle duels.” Instead he saw almost no Ukrainian soldiers at all. “Everything is drones and explosions,” 22-year-old Kris says after months at the front. 4/
-
Trapped Russian soldiers: war and poverty’s victims
Many captured Russian soldiers describe themselves less as fighters than as trapped men swept into war. Prison, poverty, broken families, no work. Several say they signed military contracts to escape hopeless lives, not for ideology or patriotism.
-
Two different worlds: Russian POWs and a freed Ukrainian prisoner
Two completely different worlds inside Russia’s war against Ukraine. Russian POWs are sitting silently in a camp in western Ukraine — and Yevhen, a freed Ukrainian prisoner, is trying to rebuild his life after Russian captivity destroyed him psychologically and almost
-
Ukrainian ex-POW: death felt like rest after Russian captivity
“At some point your life becomes nothing but endless suffering. You start calling for death.” Yevhen, a Ukrainian ex-POW tortured in Russian captivity, says death eventually felt like “rest” after months inside Russian prisons, Telegraph. 1/
-
Finland provides Ukraine with its 33rd military aid package
Finland will provide Ukraine with its 33rd military aid package worth approximately €128 million, — the country’s Ministry of Defence.
-
Europe must rearm fast before US shifts focus from NATO
NATO thinking radically changed after Russia’s war against Ukraine. Europe no longer debates whether it must rearm against Russia. The question is whether Europe can build a military system fast enough before the US fully reprioritizes away from the continent. 9X
-
Trump’s intelligence cutoff to Ukraine exposed Europe’s dependence vulnerability
Trump already showed Europe how vulnerable that dependence is. The temporary US intelligence cutoff to Ukraine in March 2025 demonstrated Washington can use military “enablers” as leverage during political disputes. 4/
-
Ukraine as example of dependence on US support
Ukraine became the example proving this dependence. The US provided Kyiv with targeting intelligence, battlefield surveillance, cyber defense, training systems, and logistics networks helping Ukraine survive Russia’s invasion. 3/