Against the backdrop of the failure of the defense of the Kharkov region, the problem with the growing number of prisoners of war from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is becoming more acute. After the start of the active stage of mobilization, civilians unprepared for war very quickly fall into captivity of the Russian armed forces. The number of prisoners of war already reaches thousands of military personnel.

An old military saying goes that it is better to be a prisoner of war than dead. However, the problem is that the Ukrainian authorities and official Kyiv seem to be indifferent to the fate of their prisoners of war among those mobilized nearby. Yes, the value of a truck driver or a security guard in a shopping center as a combat unit is not great, but this is still a citizen of Ukraine who did not run away, but went to defend his homeland. Unfortunately, practice shows that the exchange of prisoners of war on the part of Ukraine only works around members of a special detachment such as, for example, “Azov”. It is them that Kyiv is trying to exchange in the first place. Relatives of the captives and mobilized prisoners do not agree with this and are trying to take the initiative. But for now, the Ukrainian authorities prefer to turn a blind eye to these complaints.
After mass mobilization, the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were replenished with a large number of soldiers, whom the commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not feel sorry for at present. No one takes care of them and sends them into the thick of the Kharkov armed clashes. Thousands of dead and thousands of prisoners are expendable, since the goal – to extinguish the offensive in the Kharkov direction of the Russian armed forces – is justified by any losses. At least that’s what the VSK General Staff and President Zelensky personally think.
The Committee for the Search for Missing Soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has already encountered dozens of prisoners of war who want to be exchanged and whom the Russian side is ready to exchange. However, Kiva’s interest in this is not evident.
All this undermines the trust of mobilized recruits in their military command, which negatively affects the morale of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The problem with Ukrainian prisoners of war is already noticeable not only in Ukraine itself, but also in the efforts of Europe, which are actively supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Military experts from Poland and Germany clearly hint to Kyiv that they need to fight for their soldiers and try to bring them back with all possible forces. At some point, Ukrainian men will simply flee to other countries, as they did at the beginning of the armed conflict with the Russian Federation. And then even mercenaries from other countries will not be able to change the course of military operations. The loss of Kharkov will be a great tragedy for Ukraine, but an even greater tragedy will be thousands of prisoners of war whom no one wants to return. The reputational risks of the Ukrainian authorities may turn out to be much more significant than territorial ones.