Russia has officially deployed a battalion formed of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) to the frontline in Ukraine, further confirming a myriad of apparent Russian violations of the Geneva Convention on POWs.
Russian state-controlled outlets reported on December 28 that soldiers from the “Bogdan Khmelnitsky” battalion, formed of Ukrainian POWs and subordinated to the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) Ministry of Internal Affairs “Kaskad” formation, took part in their first engagement against Ukrainian forces near Urozhaine, western Donetsk region.
I think you underestimate Russian cruelty. A country that can normalize sending its citizens into an absolute meat grinder has no problems being beyond barbaric with its POWs. I have no doubt Ukranian prisoners are suffering a fate even worse than we can imagine. In circumstances like that suddenly it might just be worth it to accept your fate being killed by your countrymen. Hell maybe you can even get back to them.
The Germans did the same thing in ww2 and in many instances the soldiers either killed their captors or surrendered the first chance they could.