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.
Yes, the Vichy government decided to collaborate with the occupant. The Alsace region and the Moselle département, however, were considered by Nazi regime as part of the historic German empire, annexed from 1870 to 1919 and again from 1940 to 1945. Much like Russia considers Ukraine as its own, and to some extend its inhabitants as citizens (forcefully if need be).
Wasn’t a good chunk of Ukraine given to the Ukrainian SSR by Lenin (Donetsk, Luhansk), Stalin (Northern Bukovina, Budjak), then Khrushchev (Crimea)?
Modern-day Ukraine’s territory was more or less set by the Austro-Hungarian Empire during WW1 when they split apart the Russian empire… And included the Russian-speaking Kharkov into Ukraine. During that period, the Central Powers backed the Ukrainian People’s Republic in Kiev over the Ukrainian SSR in Kharkov (because, y’know, they’d gotten a lot of concessions out of Russia and wanted to keep it that way). Of course, the Central Powers collapsed soon after.
What territories has Russia claimed to want? Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk. While I’m sure they’d be happy to retake Kharkov, Kherson, and Odessa, Russian priorities have been pretty transparent.