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“Assemble!” someone bellowed in the prison corridor, cutting through the silence.
Murmurs began echoing off the white walls, and the stairwells filled with people from all over the world: Egyptians, Chinese, Cameroonians, Kenyans, an Italian — all soldiers captured fighting for Russia, now held in a Ukrainian jail.
Some joined the Russian military in search of a better life or to escape their home countries, while others were persuaded by Russia’s war aims. Some say they were tricked or forced into signing a military contract they didn’t understand.
