Russia said a battalion of Ukrainian prisoners of war, or POWs, would soon be sent to the front lines to fight against their own country, state media reported.

State media said troops had taken an oath of allegiance, but the move could still be a violation of international laws concerning warfare. It also raises questions about the need to use POWs, in particular about the state and quality of Russia’s forces as they suffer a high number of casualties on the battlefield.

On November 7, the Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti said Ukrainian POWs in the “Bogdan Khmelnitsky” battalion swore an oath of allegiance to Russia and would soon deploy into battle. The outlet had said in late October that Russian authorities were planning to send the group — described as a battalion including about 70 prisoners from various penal colonies — to the front lines and that they were conducting relevant training in preparation.

  • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Less lethal? Are they giving out tasers and bean bag guns? What about pepper spray?

    Seriously there are few controls and the machine gunning of retreating troops a la ww2 isn’t exactly an easy thing to do in modern warfare.

    • snooggums@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Not less lethal like police equipment, less lethal like a knife or barely functioning rifle with few bullets vs a light machine gun with plenty of ammunition.

      The conscripts are probably unarmed the majority of the time, and poorly armed when thrown into the meat grinder while the leadership will always be well equipped and organized to quickly put down any resistance by conscripts.

      • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        You realise that the condition of the weapon doesn’t change it’s lethality?

        A rifle capable of firing a round is lethal, full stop.

        A knife even when dull is lethal (and more destructive to the person stabbed).

        It sounds like you don’t understand how weapons work.