Russia seizes Ukrainian POWs, then it demands favors from their relatives

Ukrainian prisoners of war return home on Aug. 19 after being held by Russia. There are shown here in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region. When Russia takes Ukrainians captive, it often contacts the relatives of the prisoners and asks them to help Russia, according to Ukrainians. Francisco Seco/AP hide caption toggle caption Francisco Seco/AP KYIV, Ukraine - Polina is a middle-aged woman from eastern Ukraine who was devastated when Russian troops captured her hometown in 2022 and seized her ailing father, who's blind in one eye and walks with a cane. Then came another gut-wrenching blow. Russian authorities contacted her on social media and demanded she assist them to ensure that her father — who's now 71 — was well treated. "They pressured me for four months. They wanted me to gather some information about one of their attacks," said Polina. Another time, the Russians sent her a video of her father. "They said, 'Look, he's OK. He's smiling. And you haven't done anything for us yet.' They kind of pressured me, like, 'It's time to do something,'" said Polina, who fled her hometown and now lives in a northern part of the country that's still under Ukrainian control. She didn't help t...