Russian conscripts captured near Kursk, causing outrage and concern

The Astra channel confirmed the identity of one of the prisoners who was captured by Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region. It's a 21-year-old conscript from the Komi Republic in Russia, Alexander Solodov. The recording featuring him was published on Sunday morning on Ukrainian Telegram channels.

In the short video, the young man with blindfolded eyes introduces himself and says he is a conscript serving in the 488th regiment in Klintsy. He adds that nine people surrendered with him – five conscripts, one mobilized soldier, one sergeant, one border guard, and one captain.

"They promised that I would be in the Moscow region, in a tank battalion, and would not even come close to the border, but in the end it turned out to be completely different," concludes the conscript.

Astra confirmed Alexander's identity and also contacted his mother, Oksana. The woman confirmed that her son is indeed in captivity, as he called her via video link yesterday.

"Yesterday I only spoke to my son via video link. First with journalist Dmitry (apparently referring to Dmitry Karpenko, who is filming interviews with Russian prisoners, — Astra note), and then with my son. My son said we will wait for the exchange," said Alexander's mother. The woman is currently in hospital. The reasons for her hospitalization are unknown.

Meanwhile, on Sunday afternoon, Russian propaganda war channels published a recording showing the capture of a group of Russian conscripts near Kursk.

The recording shows 27 men being guarded by an armed soldier. Neither side has officially issued a statement on the matter yet.

As we reported on Saturday, dozens of Russian conscripts came under fire at the border of the Kursk region on the day of the attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "They had no weapons or instructions from their commanders," writes the independent portal Verstka, which spoke with the soldiers. "We are in an emergency situation. In short, they broke through (...) It was chaos," say those who defended the Russian border on August 6.

The issue is stirring outrage among Russians because dictator Vladimir Putin himself promised that conscripts would not take part in active combat and would not be sent to the front. Since the attack on the Kursk region, families of conscripts have been massively publishing online appeals asking for help in finding their loved ones. The number of missing is estimated to be several hundred.