"They treated us extremely well": "Khartiia" published interviews with ruscists captured in pipe in Kupiansk area. VIDEO
During the underground operation "Veles" in the Kupiansk sector, soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine’s 2nd "Khartiia" Corps captured more than 30 Russian invaders. Five of the prisoners agreed to be interviewed.
This was reported by Censor.NET.
Details
The following prisoners agreed to speak:
- Dmitry Petrovich Prosalov, call sign "Tesak", Moscow;
- Grigory Alexandrovich Kuzmin, call sign "Kuzya", Leningrad region;
- Abusupyan Magomedrasulovich Alibekov, Dagestan;
- Dmitry Vladimirovich Azarov, call sign "Dimon", St. Petersburg;
- Nikita Igorevich Yurchenko, call sign "Voodoo", Novosibirsk.
What motivates them to go to war?
The prisoners cited large debts and mortgages, as well as an attempt to avoid prison sentences in Russia, among their main motives for taking part in the war against Ukraine.
"I was a children’s toy sales manager at a large wholesale company. On November 6, 2025, I committed a crime on a train. I killed someone. Because of that, I faced between eight and twelve years in prison. I decided to join the ‘special military operation’," "Tesak" said.
According to the prisoners, they received almost no training and were immediately thrown into an assault in the Kupiansk sector. They were supposed to infiltrate Ukrainian territory through an abandoned gas pipeline and carried out supporting tasks.
"Tesak" delivered food, water, and other supplies to the occupiers’ posts inside the pipe, using scooters and carts or traveling on foot. He then returned to the front line. He also filled in for fellow soldiers as a radio operator, reporting changes in the situation around his post.
How did it happen?
On July 10, the Defense Forces began storming the pipe, trapping 15 Russians inside. Ten days later, they ran out of food and water.
"We collected water from a puddle inside the pipe. It had half the periodic table in it. We filtered it through gauze with activated charcoal. And through a bandage. Then we boiled it.
"Food was delivered to us by UAVs through a new exit we had dug, until the ‘Baba Yagas’ [the Ukrainian Vampire drone] and FPV drones smashed it beyond recognition. UAVs came regularly, but the Defense Forces of Ukraine shot them down just as regularly. So we regularly had problems with food deliveries," "Tesak" said, adding that he himself had been wounded by a munition dropped from a Ukrainian drone.
The prisoners recalled that many of the Russians were wounded: some had lost an eye or fingers. There was no food left, and ammunition was running low. The occupiers had been trapped inside the pipe for about a month and a half when Khartiia soldiers made contact with them and offered them the chance to surrender.
"We had nothing to fight back with," "Tesak" recalled. "And the Defense Forces of Ukraine gave us 30 minutes to surrender. If we did not decide to surrender as a group, they would eliminate us."
Khartiia soldiers took them prisoner in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law.
"To say they treated us extremely well would be an understatement. They gave us food, water, and cigarettes. They treated us like family, without beating or humiliating us. They helped me walk because I was wounded. The guys responded to every request. I am very grateful to these people," "Tesak" added.
The Russian occupiers remain in captivity, awaiting an exchange.
"I will never go to war again. If I have to lose a leg or an arm to avoid it, I will do so without hesitation. I will never come back here to fight against these people," the prisoner said.
Operation Veles
- Earlier, the National Guard of Ukraine’s 2nd "Khartiia" Corps released the first footage of the underground operation "Veles", which it is conducting alongside other Defense Forces units.
- Later, the National Guard’s "Khartiia" Corps provided details of the underground counteroffensive operation "Veles", during which the Defense Forces advanced more than 15 kilometers through underground infrastructure behind enemy lines in the Kupiansk sector.
