“Assemble!” someone bellowed in the prison corridor, cutting through the silence.
Murmurs began echoing off the white walls, and the stairwells filled with people from all over the world: Egyptians, Chinese, Cameroonians, Kenyans, an Italian – all soldiers captured fighting for Russia, now held in a Ukrainian jail.
Some joined the Russian military in search of a better life or to escape their home countries, while others were persuaded by Russia’s war aims. Some say they were tricked or forced into signing a military contract they did not understand.
They now face a long wait for a prisoner exchange that may never come.
Agence France-Presse spoke to several in a rare visit to a prison in western Ukraine holding captured foreign prisoners of war (POWs).
Ukrainian authorities requested the specific location of the facility be withheld. Inmates were not under the supervision of guards during the interviews, and Agence France-Presse has changed their names.
A football field at the detention centre. Photo: AFP