What happens when a volunteer from a NATO country is taken prisoner by the Russians in Ukraine?


The Russian Federation has stated that it doesn’t recognize the combatant status of foreign volunteers that have joined the Ukrainian armed forces.

This means that these volunteers, if captured by Russian forces, will be treated as if they were mercenaries or terrorists.

Russian militias with Ukrainian prisoners in Russia-occupied Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2014. (Photo: WSJ/EPA)

This sounds bad but in practice, it makes no difference. Every captured member of the Ukrainian military, foreign national or Ukrainian, old or young, male or female, will have a really rough time.

As we’ve already seen so far (and already knew from other conflicts where Russian military personnel was involved), Russia doesn't care if you’re a soldier or a civilian, a doctor or a journalist, and even if you're a pregnant woman. As long as they find you on the enemy’s side, you’re free game for them.

Being a foreigner fighting for Ukraine won’t make it much worse.

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