 Russia doesn't want its prisoners of war back for nearly four months now There have been no prisoner swaps between Ukraine and Russia the last one taking place on August the 7th During which 22 Ukrainian soldiers were returned home according to the Kiev post But since then thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of war have been languishing in Russian captivity While rising rates of desertions mean the number of Russian prisoners of war in Ukrainian captivity continues to increase Ukraine says the stalling of prisoner swaps is due to obstruction on the part of Russia and Russian prisoners of war Interviewed by Kiev post said they have been abandoned by the Kremlin So why is Russia not doing anything to get its own men back as Russia's 21 month war in Ukraine drags on Reports are appearing that the numbers of its mobilized soldiers seeking to desert are surging earlier the Moscow Times Quoted the Georgian based group Idyte Lesson that aids troops attempting to leave Putin's army Saying it had experienced an 89% increase in requests for assistance over the past few months Grigori Sverdlin founder and leader of the group said that between June and August it had received 305 requests for help but between September and November this number has almost doubled