Ukrainian soldiers captured an invader from the Dolgan people who had been hiding in a barrel for two weeks
Ukrainian defenders captured a 20-year-old Russian soldier named Alexander, who belongs to the Dolgan people—an indigenous, small Turkic ethnic group in the North.
According to the captive, in order to survive on the front lines, he hid in a metal barrel for 14 days, causing him to lose over 30 kilograms.
As the occupier recounted during a conversation with journalist Dmytro Karpenko, he served in the 1st Reconnaissance Company of the 5th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, which was previously part of the “DPR” group.
Upon arriving in the combat zone, the soldier decided to hide from Ukrainian strikes in an ordinary barrel, where he spent two weeks with virtually no food.
During that time, he subsisted on nothing but water and lost weight, dropping from 72 to 38 kilograms. When Ukrainian troops discovered his hiding place, the occupier’s appearance caused astonishment due to his critical state of exhaustion.
It is known that Oleksandr was raised in an orphanage and worked as a loader. In 2021, he took out a loan for 150,000 rubles.
“We bought a garage with the guys… just to grill kebabs there in the summer,” the captive explained.
He was unable to repay the loan, and after penalties were added, the debt amount increased significantly. According to the occupier, it was precisely because of financial problems that he signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense on May 9, 2025.
However, he did not receive the promised money for his service. According to the prisoner, the command forced the recruits to hand over their payments, allegedly for the unit’s needs.
“The company commander, whose call sign was ‘Lawyer,’ forced Alexander and 16 other newly arrived volunteers to hand over their money, supposedly for the ‘needs of the company,’” the report states.
According to the prisoner, a total of about 20 million rubles was taken from the servicemen. He claims that the commander spent part of these funds on purchasing two used Toyota cars and an old “Priora,” and kept the rest for himself.
The prisoner’s story is yet another example of how Russian soldiers are drawn into the war due to financial difficulties, and the promised payments, according to them, often do not reach the contract soldiers themselves.
">spoke with the captive.Earlier, drone operators from the Ukrainian Defense Forces spotted three Russian soldiers and, using a drone, forced them to lay down their weapons. The released footage shows the occupiers emerging from the forest with their hands raised, demonstrating their willingness to voluntarily surrender.
