64 Russian Troops Captured By Ukraine In Zaporizhzhia Counterattacks

That so many Russian soldiers 'chose to accept the Ukrainian offer to surrender' without putting up a fight underscores the Russian army's low morale at this point in the war their government initiated over four years ago. JL

Yulia Taradiuk reports in the Kyiv Independent:

Ukraine's 225th Assault Regiment on July 20 captured 64 Russian soldiers during an operation to clear infiltrating Russian groups from Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The Russian troops had been tasked with infiltrating behind Ukrainian positions to locate Ukrainian drone crews, gather intelligence, and plant Russian flags in villages for "propaganda footage." Ukrainian troops detected and cleared the infiltrating groups from Ternuvate, Kosivtseve, Rizdvianka, Verkhnia Tersa, and Vozdvyzhivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Ukraine's 225th Separate Assault Regiment claimed on July 20 that its troops captured 64 Russian soldiers during an operation to clear infiltrating Russian groups from several settlements in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

According to the regiment, Russian troops had been tasked with infiltrating behind Ukrainian positions without engaging in combat. Their reported mission was to locate Ukrainian drone crews, gather intelligence, and plant Russian flags in villages for "propaganda footage" falsely portraying the settlements as captured by Russian forces.

Ukrainian troops said they detected and cleared the infiltrating groups from the areas of Ternuvate, Kosivtseve, Rizdvianka, Verkhnia Tersa, and Vozdvyzhivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

The regiment said the operation resulted in the capture of 64 Russian soldiers, who have been added to Ukraine's pool of prisoners of war (POWs) available for future exchanges.

The unit also published a video purportedly showing some of the captured Russian soldiers speaking after their capture. 

One POW said on camera that he had been told to avoid close-quarters combat "to minimize casualties." Another said they were offered the chance to surrender, and were then "immediately fed" and taken away from the front line.

Ukraine's 225th Separate Assault Regiment did not specify when the Russian soldiers were taken into captivity.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage or the regiment's claims. 

The 225th Separate Assault Regiment is regarded as one of the units closely associated with Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.