Prisoners in this camp in western Ukraine walked around without handcuffs on their wrists, instead with their hands clasped behind their backs and their heads bowed. Only the guards posted outside were armed. The staff at the center said it was a revolving door: new prisoners arrive every week as soon as others leave for the exchange. After returning home, they can be sent back to the front.
“I don’t want to fight, but if they say it again, then so be it,” said 45-year-old mortar operator Oleg Asedulin. “We were sent to war to fight for ourselves, and it is not clear against whom and for whom.”
