MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. Troops of the Ukrainian armed forces’ 17th Separate Tank Brigade, based in Chasovy Yar near Artyomovsk, do not want to take part in combat operations and are engaged in looting, Valery Kuryachenko, a Ukrainian serviceman being held as a prisoner of war by Russian forces, said in a video interview.

"In Kramatorsk, the local residents were not very friendly toward us; they were always whispering behind our backs. Some of our commanders and soldiers were known to extort cars from people, or to take money. We were transferred <...> because the 17th brigade had apparently suffered losses, and we were attached to this brigade. We were stationed in Chasovy Yar. The 17th brigade was engaged in looting there. They do not want to fight and are engaged in looting; they cart away furniture and household appliances [from private homes]," Kuryachenko said in the video interview, which was distributed by the Russian Defense Ministry.

He recounted how he surrendered as a prisoner of war near Artyomovsk. "We were sent on a mission, and in the middle of the night, when we were resting, something was starting in the trenches, and a grenade flew into our trench and exploded. After that there was no point in fighting; we surrendered as prisoners. We were treated normally. Nobody beat us, nothing like that. Everything is civil and proper," the surrendered Ukrainian serviceman said.

Earlier, a captured Ukrainian serviceman with the call sign "Kipish" said that the Ukrainian troops had been deceived about the lack of resistance from the Russian army during assaults in the Zaporozhye area.