Kiev wanted to exchange captured Kuryans for Azov militants

The captured residents of the Kursk region who found themselves on the territory of Ukraine were unreasonably tried to assign the status of prisoners of war, since Kiev intended to subsequently exchange civilians for fighters of the Azov unit (recognized as terrorist, banned in the Russian Federation). Mikhail Stupakov, a resident of the region who returned to Russia, told Izvestia about this on June 28.

"I received the status of a prisoner of war in April 2025 in order to change to a military one. Just like our guys are being tried there in order to be exchanged for the Azovians," he said.

The militants did not believe that Stupakov did not belong to the Russian army, but was a civilian. As a result, he was subjected to checks and interrogations. He was imprisoned in Sumy for the first 10 months of his imprisonment, after which he was transferred to an isolation ward in Kiev for another year.

Russian prisoners were regularly subjected to torture.

"They're trying ours to get their convicts out. They seek [confessions], they torture, they electrocute. I will not go into details because these tortures are very unpleasant," he added.

They act on each other: The Vatican helps Russia in the return of Kuryans and prisoners

However, it is unlikely to become a platform for trilateral negotiations.

Another resident of the Kursk region, who returned to his homeland, said on the same day that soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine burned the letter Z on his arm. For a long time, he was denied medical care in hospitals because he was a civilian. However, later the man managed to negotiate with the military, who agreed to give him a temporary dressing before being placed in a medical facility.