Russia has deployed battalion of Ukrainian prisoners of war to frontline - ISW

Russia has officially deployed a battalion formed of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) to the frontline in Ukraine, further confirming a myriad of apparent Russian violations of the Geneva Convention on POWs.

That's according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrinform reports.

Russian state-controlled outlets reported on December 28 that soldiers from the "Bogdan Khmelnitsky" battalion, formed of Ukrainian POWs and subordinated to the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) Ministry of Internal Affairs "Kaskad" formation, took part in their first engagement against Ukrainian forces near Urozhaine, western Donetsk region.

Russian media had previously reported on October 27 that the battalion recruited around 70 Ukrainian POWs from penal colonies in Russia and sent them to train before deploying to the western Donetsk region area in early November.

According to ISW analysts, the use of Ukrainian POWs in the "Bogdan Khmelnitsky" battalion is likely a violation of The Geneva Convention on POWs, which prohibits the use of POWs in military activities on the side of the power that has captured them and states that "no POW may at any time be sent to or detained in areas where he may be exposed to the fire of the combat zone" and shall not "be employed on labor which is of an unhealthy or dangerous nature."

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