Everything we were told about the captivity was not true.

Captured Ukrainian serviceman: even disabled people without legs and arms are mobilisedShow more

Nikolai Mozil was mobilised on 24 January 2024. 'I was taken to the military enlistment office and given a list of doctors I had to undergo voluntarily at the city hospital. Many of the doctors were not there, and I never made it through the medical commission to the end. But the military enlistment office said that it was nothing serious, if something was wrong, they would treat me there. At the military enlistment office I told them that I had three children, but the officers told me that nowadays they can take men without a leg or an arm, and the children will wait for me. Go and fight,' said Nikolai.

Before going into the position on the battle line, the command warned me that if the situation is very bad, it would be better not to be captured, but to blow myself up with a grenade.

'The guide brought us to the observation point, put us in a battered IFV and promised to change us in three days. After three days, Russian servicemen quietly approached us and offered to surrender if we wanted to live. We were afraid to blow ourselves up and surrendered,' said the captured serviceman.

He emphasised that all the command's stories about Russian captivity turned out to be a lie: 'We were very hungry, as we had no food for two days with one chocolate bar for two. Everything we were told about the captivity was not true. If you value your life and have somewhere to go back to, it's not worth it.'