How a Ukrainian Soldier Captured Two Russian Troops Using Only Deception and Nerves

A Ukrainian servicemember from the 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade says he managed to capture two Russian assault troops near Pokrovsk after pretending to be one of their own during a tense frontline encounter in the village of Hryshyne.

The brigade shared the story on social media on May 9, describing how the soldier, known by the callsign “Alex,” used deception to outmaneuver the Russian troops while sheltering inside a dugout with a wounded comrade.

According to Alex, he heard voices speaking Russian outside the position before the enemy soldiers called out asking whether anyone inside was “friendly.”

“I hear someone talking. They ask: ‘Friendly? ’ I say: ‘Yeah, friendly,’” the Ukrainian fighter recalled. “I let them in. My rifle was next to me. They sat down and started talking in Russian. At first, they didn’t understand who they were dealing with.”

Alex said the Russian troops eventually realized they had entered a Ukrainian position, but by that point chose not to resist and instead surrendered.

“We took their radios, took all their phones, took all their documents immediately. I reported it to our guys,” he said. “About an hour later, we were told to move out. Our wounded guy and these two. It was slippery, mud everywhere. They kept falling. We walked for three days.”

The Ukrainian soldiers eventually managed to reach friendly positions together with the captured Russian troops.

“The enemy still doesn’t understand where they ended up,” the brigade wrote in a statement accompanying the story. “They struggle to tell their own from us—but we can tell the difference just fine.”

This and many other Russian prisoners could be exchanged during the upcoming planned “1,000-for-1,000” prisoner exchange mediated by the United States. Ukraine has already handed Russia a list of 1,000 prisoners of war it is ready to exchange.

Earlier, a 19-year-old infantryman serving in the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade with a call-sign “Malyi” shared his experience of capturing three Russian soldiers during an assault using psychological pressure.

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