Alexander F., a German who fought for the separatists in Donbass and Russia against Ukraine, was captured and became the first German prisoner in Ukraine in 2022. During an interview with t-online and ZDF Frontal, he requested to call his mother to let her know he was okay, but he had been unable to reach her from the military prison in Ukraine. The interview sheds light on how Alexander F. became a part of Russian war propaganda and was exploited in media in Ukraine, while also telling his story of losing friends in the war and experiencing “hell.” The interview also reveals he never wants to fight again, despite his former longing for his old Soviet life. Despite being a prisoner of war, Alexander F. speaks about his positive experience in captivity and explains why he wanted to fight in Donbass, despite being retired from the Bundeswehr due to epilepsy.
Alexander F. fought for the separatists in Donbass and for Russia against Ukraine. He was the first German to be taken prisoner in Ukraine in 2022 – t-online and ZDF Frontal met him.
“Call my mom. And tell me I’m okay and healthy. And that I love her!” Alexander F. had tried in vain to reach her from the military prison in Ukraine. Perhaps the volunteer fighter from Germany only agreed to the interview from which his request came to get rid of this message.
Alexander F.’s mother lives in Frankfurt, he himself is sitting at a table in a sparse room in a Ukrainian prisoner of war. He was captured when his Russian unit tried to storm a Ukrainian village.
t-online and the ZDF magazine “Frontal” spoke to Alexander F. The joint research shows how the German Alexander F. became a figure in Russian war propaganda, whose capture was also exploited in the media in Ukraine. They trace the story of a man who lost friends in the war and experienced “hell” and who today says he never wants to fight again. And they also tell the story of a former Soviet citizen who came to Germany and developed a longing for his old life because of shattered dreams.
The interview situation of a prisoner of war in custody with other listeners in the room, who are likely to be from the military secret service, is problematic. On the Russian side, too, every wrong word could cause problems for the man later. But Alexander F. wants to talk, and it is agreed that he does not have to answer questions if honest answers could pose a risk for him.
Video after capture showed traces of violence
So he is silent about the circumstances of his capture on October 10: “Let’s leave it alone.” Ukraine had released a video showing his face swollen, his eye black and his head bandaged, with pro-Russian accounts even saying his ears had been cut off. Alexander F. then speaks again about the imprisonment itself: He was “shocked but positive” about the circumstances. “I thought before that the (Ukrainians, editor’s note) would hate me. But it’s like normal prisoners, we even got televisions.” Medical care is also good.
His journey to the war began in 2015. Alexander F. told his mother that he was going “on vacation to the sea.” But he didn’t get there. Instead, he went to the Donbass, where the Ukrainian military and Ukrainian volunteers have been fighting pro-Russian militias since spring 2014.
61 extremists have left the country since the beginning of the war
There are no exact figures on fighters: At the end of 2019, the federal government knew of twelve suspected German fighters on the pro-Russian side since 2014: There were investigations against that many Germans. In 2019, the Soufan Center, run by a former FBI counterterrorism specialist, estimated the total number of Germans among the Ukrainians at 15 since 2014 and 150 among the separatists. How many have joined since the war of aggression began in 2022 is unclear. Ukraine estimates the number of Germans on the Russian side at 1,000. The federal police only keeps statistics on extremists: as of the beginning of February, 61 such people were known to have left Germany for the war in Ukraine. 29 had clear evidence that they actually fought – 27 of them on the pro-Russian side.
A Ukrainian acquaintance from his former clique in Frankfurt says that Alexander F.’s departure for the war came as a surprise to everyone at the time. The Russians there in the Sossenheim district called him “Chochol” – derogatory to Ukrainians because he comes from Dnipro, Ukraine. The friend believes that Alexander F. mentally lived in another world because he only watched Russian television. So he may have been incited.
Retired from the Bundeswehr as unfit for military service
His explanations as to why he wanted to fight in the Donbass support this; “I didn’t like the fact that the Ukrainian army started the war against peaceful citizens, and I wanted to help.” Help? “I was already prepared that I had to fight.” He wanted to prevent, as he puts it in the style of Russian propaganda, that the entire Ukraine would become part of the EU, with its rules and with many refugees. The “many foreigners in Frankfurt” had also bothered him.
Alexander F. had traveled to the front without any military training. He had been decommissioned from the Bundeswehr because of epilepsy as a result of an accident in 1995. The epilepsy was actually the reason why the family came to Germany in 1997 for an operation. But that turned out to be more complicated, it stayed with drugs. He is permanently dependent on them.
Nevertheless, on August 25, 2015 he flew to Rostov-on-Don via Moscow. He had previously found out exactly where volunteers can register on the Internet and took a taxi to the recruitment office. His admission was uncomplicated, he signed an annual contract. “Then I was sent to my company, and then it started.” Alexander F. became a marine in Novoazovsk and from then on fought against Ukraine.
The story of Alexander F. sheds light on the complicated and often murky world of international conflicts and the individuals who become entangled in them. His journey from Germany to the front lines in Ukraine is a sobering reminder of how easily people can be influenced by propaganda and misguided ideologies. The fact that he was captured and became a pawn in the media war between Ukraine and Russia only underscores the tragic consequences of armed conflict. While the specifics of Alexander F.’s story are unique, his experiences offer valuable insights into the broader issues of geopolitics and the human cost of war. We must never forget the lessons of his story and remain committed to finding peaceful solutions to global conflicts.