Propaganda instead of army: How the Kremlin uses Ukrainian prisoners for information warfare

The resource-based federation of Moscovia is creating new units from Ukrainian prisoners of war in the occupied territories of our south and east. But in reality — this is not an army, it is an instrument of a disinformation-propaganda campaign to discredit Ukraine.

The occupation administration in part of the Zaporizhzhya region in Melitopol has formed a new unit. It mainly includes Ukrainian prisoners of war who allegedly voluntarily join the side of the Russian army and will fight against the «Kyiv regime».

The new formation mockingly bears the name (attention!) of the Poltava colonel Martin Pushkar, a historical figure of the 17th century. Such use of the name and surname of a Cossack leader is a manipulation of Ukrainian history in favor of Kremlin propaganda.

One of the fighters in the unit is Oleksandr Orlov, a native of the Zaporizhzhya region, who served in the 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine before being captured. In limited available videos, he appears with weapons and voices anti-Ukrainian theses — likely under psychological pressure.

 

The rhetoric is typical: «we are fighting for peace», «liberating Ukraine from Nazism», «Putin is the savior-liberator, and Zelenskyy is a war criminal», and other such nonsense. However... the unit is practically unknown — the Telegram channel had only 131 subscribers and was deleted.

In the published videos, up to five people appear, often the same individuals. None of the leading Kremlin media (TASS, «RIA Novosti») mentioned this unit, indicating its minimal combat significance, so it is obvious that this — is an element of information warfare, and the goal of such initiatives is as follows:

• supporting the narrative of «an exclusively civil conflict in Ukraine»;
• creating the illusion that Ukrainians themselves are massively switching to the Russian side;
• neutralizing the image of genuine anti-Putin movements, such as the RDC and the Legion "Freedom of Russia," which fight on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

One can draw one single conclusion: the formation from our prisoners — is a political project, not a combat unit; it was created not for the front, but for propaganda broadcasts. Previously, Russia had already launched similar formations, including battalions named after Maksym Kryvonos and Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

All these units have one thing in common: manipulation, coercion, public videos under dictation, and lack of real trust even among Russian media, followed by complete disappearance from the information field. The Bohdan Khmelnytsky battalion was eventually disbanded and sent home due to fears that they would start shooting in the back of the Muscovites.