Russian POWs recount capture as Ukraine hopes for quick prisoner swap

Russian POWs recount capture as Ukraine hopes for quick prisoner swap

Russian prisoners of war captured by Ukraine in its lightning cross-border offensive into the Kursk region speak to journalists in a facility in Ukraine's Sumy region, after AFP asked for access to some of them.

Though Ukrainian guards were standing nearby, the prisoners did not appear to be talking under duress.

One 22-year-old Russian POW -- a conscript -- says he and others were "simply abandoned by our command" when Ukrainian troops appeared.

Ukraine hopes the POWS can be quickly exchanged for some of the 6,500 or so Ukrainian soldiers that Moscow says it holds.