Russian Troops Allegedly Demand Prisoner's Mom Pay Ransom to Stop Execution

A video of Russian soldiers allegedly threatening a Ukrainian prisoner with execution unless his mother pays them a 5,000 euro ($5,400) ransom has gone viral on social media.

The video appears to show Russian soldiers interviewing a captured member of the Ukrainian militia who had been serving in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.

The video was posted on Twitter by Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who compared the Russian soldiers' behavior to the Islamic State militant group, or ISIS.

"Russian soldiers are increasingly similar to ISIS militants. Russia must be recognized as a terrorist-state," he wrote.

The video was also posted on Twitter by political scientist Oksana Ostapchuk, where it had over 150,000 views.

"This soldier of the Mariupol territorial defence is being held captive by [the] Russian army," the caption read.

She said Russian soldiers were demanding that the prisoner's mother, Olga Novykova, the director of a children's film festival, pay them 5,000 euros by Monday or the next video would show the soldier's execution.

In the video the man is asked his name and replies Aleksey Artyomovich Novikov, according to a translation by Newsweek.

He is also asked when he ended up there to which he replies April 23.

A man in the video asks: "Who are you? Where were you? Speak fast."

He replied: "I am a soldier for the 109 Brigade of the Territorial Defense Force of the Donetsk Region, commandant platoon."

The alleged prisoner also said that he enlisted in Mariupol as a volunteer. He is also asked how he is being treated and he said that he is being treated well and points to water he has been given and a toilet.

He also said that he does not need medical attention and says apart from recent physical abuse, not seen on camera, he has not suffered beatings as a prisoner.

Latvia-based independent news website Meduza said it had spoken to the mother of the captured soldier, Olga Novikova, who said the kidnappers had contacted her through her son's Facebook account.

"They [demanded] a ransom, and if I don't give the money, they promise to kill him and send me a video of the execution," Novikova told Meduza, according to a translation by Google.

The report added that there were no guarantees that the soldier would be kept alive even if a ransom was paid. Novikova added that she had seen her son's name on the prisoner exchange list but has not yet been able to contact Russian officials to ensure her son is kept alive.

She added that she needed publicity to make sure that the Russian soldiers do not consider shooting her son.

Novikova also detailed her interaction with the alleged Russian soldier kidnappers.

"[On April 24] in the afternoon, around 14:00 I was contacted from my son's Facebook account", she said.

The alleged kidnappers demanded money and threatened to send the mother a video of them killing her son.

"They didn't let me talk to him, but they uploaded a video in which he says that he was taken prisoner on April 23 and that he was a member of the Therodefense [territorial defense unit].

"Although he did not have any evidence that he served there. Only a student card of the Mariupol State University.

"He is a first-year political scientist, and [had] a passport with a Mariupol residence permit. Most likely he was forced to say that he served in the defense."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.

Russia
Russian soldiers patrol a street on April 11, 2022, in Volnovakha in the Donetsk region. Alleged Russian kidnappers have threatened to kill a prisoner if they do not receive ransom money. Alexander Nemonov/Getty Images

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Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more

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