A DPR prisoner of war captured in Sumy Oblast was “genuinely grateful” to the Ukrainian army for saving his life and enabling him to stop serving on the front line, in a war he didn’t want to fight.

“[They treated us] like animals, meat. They threw [to the front] like meat.” Said Shalinsky Seryi Viktorovich, 32, a Donetsk national, who said he was force pre-mobilised on Feb 19 2022.

“[The Russian army] left us behind, we were left fighting with our bare hands. There was no armour,” he added.