MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. The Ukrainian command tasked servicemen with dressing in civilian clothes and shooting civilians trying to escape Krasnoarmeysk (Ukrainian name: Pokrovsk), a prisoner of war said.

"When we entered Pokrovsk, we were ordered to dress in civilian clothes and shoot anyone trying to leave [the town]. We were told to shoot everyone, including civilians," he said in a video published by the Russian Defense Ministry.

According to the prisoner of war, the servicemen found casual clothes "in apartments, while looting them." This is where the hostilities caught up with them. The troops ended up in a building surrounded by explosions, which was later seized by Russian servicemen. "When they [the Russians] came, we surrendered," the prisoner of war said. "[Russian servicemen] gave us food and clothes. Everything we needed. They even gave us cigarettes. They gave me my first loaf of bread in a month and a half," he said.

According to the soldier, he was mobilized in August 2024, but fled his unit due to poor supplies and financial provision. He "hid at home" for a year until the police came and forcibly sent him to another unit, which was soon dispatched to Grishino.

On his way to Krasnoarmeysk, the prisoner of war said he saw many Ukrainian servicemen injured or killed by Russian drones. Meanwhile, the command kept assuring them that Ukrainian units were "liberating Pokrovsk."

The serviceman said that the command left the unit in Krasnoarmeysk without providing specific information about the deployment site. "We didn't go there. We just turned off our walkie-talkies and hid in a house. <…> We are just being sent to our deaths. We are being thrown out of Ukraine to our deaths. Think. Don't agree to fight because there's nothing to fight for," he told his compatriots.