Forced to learn and sing russian songs: Former prisoner of war describes russia’s use of ideological coercion

Along with physical and psychological abuse, russian forces subject Ukrainian prisoners of war to intense ideological pressure, forcing them to memorize and sing russian songs while playing them nonstop throughout the day.

This was revealed by Dmytro Kanuper, a soldier with the Azov Brigade and a former prisoner of war, who was “sentenced” by russia to 29 years in prison. Kanuper spoke about his experiences during a discussion at Media Center Ukraine.

“We were constantly forced to learn russian [ed.] songs,” he said. “During the first few months in Taganrog, we endured two full months of being made to listen to the same songs from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. In a cell roughly 10 to 12 square meters, holding eight people, there was a speaker embedded in the wall, blasting the same songs at full volume. You would hear them dozens of times a day. Along with several versions of the russian national anthem, they also played songs personally favored by the russian president, tracks by the band Lyube, and many songs openly directed against Ukrainians,” Kanuper recounted.

According to him, prisoners who failed to recite a specific line or verse of the russian anthem or one of the songs during inspections were beaten.

He added that every night, before lights out, the prisoner acting as the cell watchman had to answer a series of set questions—reciting the duties of a cell watchman, the russian national anthem, and explaining the meaning behind the colors of the russian flag and the russian federation’s coat of arms. Incorrect answers were met with physical punishment.

“If you got something wrong, they would tell you to remind them of it during the next inspection. But at the same time, they would open the ‘feeding hatch’—the small window used to pass food into the cell—and order you to either stick your hands or your face through it. If you showed your face, they would slap you. If you raised your hands, they would hit them with a rubber baton,” Kanuper said.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news