In February 2023, Russian state-controlled media reported on a formation of the Bogdan Khmelnitsky Battalion (), or Bohdan Khmelnytsky Battalion, a Russian "volunteer battalion", allegedly from Ukrainian

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

s that have

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

. The battalion was named after

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Zynoviy Bohdan Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky of the Abdank coat of arms (Ruthenian language, Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern , Polish language, Polish: ; 15956 August 1657) was a Ruthenian nobility, Ruthenian noble ...

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

Hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...

of the

Zaporozhian Host The Zaporozhian Host (), or Zaporozhian Sich () is a term for a military force inhabiting or originating from Zaporizhzhia, the territory in what is Southern and Central Ukraine today, beyond the rapids of the Dnieper River, from the 15th to th ...

, who rebelled against the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

and later accepted suzerainty of the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

. Andrii Tyshchenko claimed to be its commander. Ukrainian intelligence claimed the Russian media reports as propaganda.

Russian media claims

The battalion, according to Russian state-controlled media, was created in February 2023 in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast. The formation's alleged commander, Andrii Tyshchenko, told

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...

that they had recruited around 70 Ukrainian POWs in February alone. RIA Novosti calls the battalion "volunteer", claiming that its members joined the formation "voluntarily, having accepted Russian citizenship if they joined the battalion". Russian sources claimed that the Russian command would treat members of the battalion in the same way as Russian soldiers and that they would receive the same salaries and benefits. Russian state-controlled sources claimed that in October 2023, the battalion became attached to Russian operational combat tactical formation Cascade. According to Russian press, on 28 December 2023, the battalion engaged Ukrainian forces near the village of Urozhaine. According to the self proclaimed commander of the battalion, over 95% of the battalion consists of former Ukrainian servicemen with combat experience. According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, the Russian media reports are more likely a media operation then a real military formation. Ukraine noted that no such unit has been observed operating in combat, but the coercion of POWs into combat by Russia cannot be ruled out in the future. Ukraine characterized reports as a Russian answer to the

Freedom of Russia Legion The Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL, ; ; abbr. ''ЛСР'', ''LSR''), also called the Free Russia Legion, is a Ukrainian-based Paramilitary, paramilitary unit of Russian citizens, which Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposes the Russia u ...

and the Russian Volunteer Corps, units formed in Ukraine from Russian citizens.

Use of POWs

The battalion is allegedly made up of Ukrainian PoWs who have defected to Russia. Coercion of POWs into combat would violate the Article 23 of the

Geneva Convention upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

on Prisoners of War, which says that "no prisoner of war may at any time be sent to or detained in areas where he may be exposed to the fire of the combat zone." It was reported that after taking an oath, the battalion was deployed to an unspecified part of the frontline. Yulia Gorbunova, senior researcher on Ukraine at

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

, said that it was "hard to imagine" that the men of the battalion were taking part of their own free will.

References

{{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian prisoners of war Pro-Russian militant groups