Russia has announced a battalion consisting of Ukrainian "volunteers." However, veterans and former prisoners of war provide differing accounts regarding their recruitment and experiences.
Pavlo Oliynyk, 25, stated that he joined the Maksym Kryvonis battalion to escape Russian captivity. Before his capture in the Donbas region in 2024, he served as a senior lieutenant in Ukraine's armed forces. Oliynyk reported being electrocuted, beaten, and psychologically tortured while a prisoner of war (POW). He accepted the offer to join the battalion, named after a notable 17th-century Cossack commander, in hopes of reaching the front lines to escape to Ukrainian-controlled territory. DW was able to contact Oliynyk through his lawyer.
Reports of Russian combat units formed by Ukrainian prisoners of war and former service members began to surface in late 2022. Several detachments were created and merged into the "Ukrainian Volunteer Special Forces Brigade" in August 2026. The Maksym Kryvonis battalion has gained attention for its involvement in combat, with Russian media estimating around 200 fighters, though available footage suggests only several dozen.
An investigative team from the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne identified over 30 members of the battalion, confirming they were all former Ukrainian servicemen captured between 2023 and 2024. Pavel Luzin, an expert on Russian foreign policy and defense at the Center for European Policy Analysis, characterized these units as an "imitation" of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion, suggesting that Moscow aims to distract from the existence of Russian volunteer units in Ukrainian ranks. Ukrainian intelligence services share this view.
Yevhen Shybalov, a veteran of the war in Ukraine, noted that it concerns Russian authorities that Russians fight on Ukraine's side, while Ukrainians do not fight for Russia. In 2025, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that 95% of released Ukrainian POWs interviewed indicated they had experienced torture or ill-treatment during their captivity.
Bill Wiley, executive director of the NGO Commission for International Justice and Accountability, expressed skepticism regarding the voluntary nature of recruitment for these battalions, while Mykhailo Savva from the Center for Civil Liberties pointed to ongoing criminal procedures against several battalion members, suggesting they had switched sides voluntarily.
Maksym Butkevych, a war veteran and human rights activist who spent 28 months as a POW, stated that the conditions in Russian captivity blur the line between voluntary and involuntary recruitment. He noted that all Ukrainian POWs received offers to join the Russian army between 2022 and 2023, often after experiencing severe mistreatment.
Both Butkevych and Shybalov reported similar experiences, including attempts to force confessions of war crimes and recruitment for Russian intelligence services under duress. They emphasized that while psychological pressure is applied, it complicates the notion of voluntary compliance.
Oliynyk recounted that he initially declined multiple offers to join Russian forces, only accepting the fourth offer to escape. He claimed he did not sign official Defense Ministry paperwork but rather a private contract with an individual offering military services. He described being subjected to lectures and viewing propaganda materials.
Oliynyk indicated that members of the Maksym Kryvonis battalion included both those who switched sides voluntarily and those who were coerced. In a video from a trial in Ukraine, he mentioned that former Ukrainian POWs in the unit were monitored by mercenaries from the private Russian military company Redut, and he reported instances of beatings and torture, as well as receiving wages from Russian military intelligence.
Oliynyk stated that he was given a phone but felt too frightened to call anyone in Ukraine due to constant surveillance. He denied having fought against Ukrainians, claiming he fled in March 2025 before his first deployment in the Donetsk province. After evading detection for two days, he eventually made contact with Ukrainian fighters.
Currently, Oliynyk has been in detention in Ukraine for nearly two years while authorities investigate potential treason charges, but he has not yet been formally charged.