The entire Ukrainian military unit is believed to have been disarmed.
The Ukrainian army participating in Kiev's attack on Russia's Kursk province has begun to "repeat" - Major General Apty Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat Special Forces from Russia's Chechnya Republic, told RIA Novosti on August 17 local time.
The general said Akhmat and other Russian military units had " systematically eliminated the enemy", adding that Kiev had begun to surrender everywhere on the front line in the region.
General Alaudinov, who was appointed deputy Director General of the General Department of Military Politics of the Russian Armed Forces in April, said the Ukrainian military reserve is " exhausted".
Previously, on August 17, General Alaudinov wrote on his Telegram account that at least five Ukrainian fighters had been taken captive by the Special Forces unit in the past few days, including a member of the newly deployed Azov regiment.
A video showing nearly a dozen Ukrainian prisoners of war being captured by Russian soldiers also appeared on social media. According to RIA Novosti, the video shows soldiers of a unit of Ukraine's 22nd Independent Mechanized Brigade taking down weapons and communicating with the Russian army through a dedicated Telegram channel.
A total of 24 Ukrainian soldiers serving in the unit have surrendered to Russia - RIA reported. According to the news agency, these people were taken as prisoners near the village of Komarovka, about 19 km from the Russian border with Ukraine.
The video shows Ukrainian soldiers lining up with their hands behind them. Russian soldiers armed with attack guns are escorting them. At least 17 Ukrainian prisoners of war can be seen in the video.
Some Russian military Telegram channels also reported that Ukrainian soldiers have begun to "rowly lower weapons" in recent days. Some people were believed to have surrendered shortly after crossing the Russian border.
The Russian Defense Ministry has so far not commented on the above information. The ministry also did not disclose any official information about the total number of Ukrainian prisoners of war surrendered in Kursk province.
In its latest statement on the situation in Kurk, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian forces had lost 300 soldiers and 31 heavy equipment in the past 24 hours, including 3 tanks and a German-made IRIS-T air defense system.
The Ukrainian army launched an attack on Russia's border area last week. In total, Ukraine has lost more than 3,100 soldiers, 44 tanks and 43 armored personnel carriers, 5 air defense systems and 6 multiple-inights missile launchers since the start of the campaign, according to estimates by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Russia accused the Ukrainian military of simultaneously targeting civilians in its attack on Kursk province. Earlier this week, Acting Governor Aleksey Smirnov said 12 people were killed and more than 120 injured in the attack. He added that more than 120,000 people have been evacuated from the area.
