Former war prisoners claimed that Ukraine has returned a collaborator from captivity. Babel is watching on the case of Kostyantyn Belov

As Kostyantyn Belov tells Babel, he is 23 years old, was born in Donetsk, but from childhood lived in the village of Andriivka (Donetsk region). Grew up with his grandfather, whom, as he says, he “took care of” on his own. When he turned 13, with the beginning of the occupation, he moved to live with his older sister in Mariupol. He began his service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2020 in the 17th separate heavy mechanized brigade. He served in Kryvyi Rih in a repair platoon as a section foreman — he disassembled, assembled and repaired military equipment. He says that he “needed to be in the army more than to have combat experience”.

Several administrative offenses have been registered against Kostyantyn, including AWOL. The brigade itself reported to Babel that at the time of the full-scale invasion, Belov was also in the status of a special forces unit.

On February 24, the 17th brigade was deployed in Mariupol, where its units were seconded to other brigades. Kostyantyn Belov was also in the city, but not with his brigade. According to him, he had arrived there the day before to carry out an operation. When the full-scale invasion began, he did not understand where to go, and, as he claims, he allegedly “mobilized” — he fought together with the units that were in the city. He was at “Azovstal”, where, according to him, he worked for a specific brigade, which he does not want to name.

Kostyantyn was captured from “Azovstal” on May 16, 2022 — during the organized evacuation of Ukrainian military personnel who were defending the plant until the last. After that, there was no news about him for almost three years — only a few messages on channels that publish data on Ukrainian prisoners — they were looking for his relatives there. There is no publicly available confirmation that his relatives were really looking for him. And on April 19, 2025, Kostyantyn was exchanged.

On the same day, Mariupol defender Ilya "Smurf" Ilyashenko reported on Belovʼs possible cooperation with Russian guards. The post was shared almost 4 000 times. Very quickly, testimonies from other servicemen who were in captivity with Belov began to appear in the comments — they confirmed what was written. One of those who commented on the post was an officer in the “Azov” command Dmytro Andryushchenko. He said that he "hoped that Belov would never return [from captivity]" and added that during the defense of Mariupol, he "left the positions and was a deserter".

According to Ilyashenko, Kostyantyn Belov began cooperating with Russian guards in the first colony. He allegedly wrote a statement himself asking to remain in Russia and not be included in the exchange list. Ilyashenko says that all Ukrainian prisoners were offered to sign such statements, but there was usually no punishment for refusing to sign, it was considered a formality.

Below is everything that is known about Kostyantyn Belov in captivity.

The border guard and defender of Mariupol Ilya “Smurf” Ilyashenko talks.

Kostyantyn Belov and I were held together in Taganrog pre-trial detention center No. 2 from May to September 2022. At that time, his cell was opposite mine. Then we were “pushed together” again — already in Kamyansko-Shakhtynsk, in the general regime menʼs correctional colony No. 12. There we were all in a common barracks, where about 90 people were held. Belov was constantly transferred from one colony to another.

In captivity, Belov often talked to the guards. No one else could do this. I heard him tell them that he himself was a prisoner in “Azov” and they forced him to cook food. When he was asked why he fought for Ukraine, he replied that “I didn’t want to, because all of them [Ukrainians] are Nazis and fascists”. He told us, the prisoners, that his parents had fled Donetsk because of the occupation, and he was forced to go with them to the “Banderites”. Although now information has emerged that he is an orphan.

Taganrog pre-trial detention center No. 2

In captivity, no one spoke to Belov. He kept by himself, but behaved defiantly, as if he knew that no one would touch him. And no one touched him, because if someone wanted to duke it out with him, they were threatened. But as soon as one of the prisoners answered him sharply, started an open argument, it was clear that he was afraid.

The Russians treated him loyally. This was especially noticeable in Taganrog. They freely came to him in broad daylight — without checks, without unnecessary noise. I heard them talking to him in the corridor, without yelling, without humiliation. And if they took us for interrogations with our faces to the floor, in a half-bent position, with beatings, humiliation, he walked calmly. They never raised their voices at him. They didnʼt beat him.

Checks were carried out twice a day in Taganrog — everyone was taken out of their cells, our surnames were called. Belov was opposite, so he definitely heard mine [surname]. And later we crossed paths in the Kamyansko-Shakhtynsk colony. Everyone there at least once suffered physical abuse because of his denunciations — because of his denunciations, because a person would organize show demonstrations accusing others, the guards would hear them and take these people for interrogation. Everyone was return with signs of beatings. Of course, I was not an exception.

Belov always sat at the entrance to the barracks, exactly where the Russians were. Once I was talking to my comrade, met Belov’s eyes, and it seemed to him that I was talking to comrade about him. Then he came up and shouted in front of everyone: “What are you talking about me? Do I need to remind how you shot Russians with machine guns at ʼAzovstalʼ?” He knew for sure that the Russians would hear this. After that, they took me for interrogation. They beat me with batons and tasers. They asked if his words were true. I pretended not to understand what they were talking about, although I had been with the machine gun since the fighting in the port, I tried to hide this information. Because if I had admitted that it was true, the exchange either wouldn’t have happened, or we would have waited a long time. A case would have been opened against me, an investigation would have been ongoing, a sentence would have been passed, and so on.

After I made it public that Belov was collaborating with the enemy, I was contacted by SBU. All information has already been transferred to the prosecutorʼs office.

The marine, defender of the Snake Island Vlad Zadorin talks.

Coercion to cooperate in captivity can be different: you either refuse verbally, or you are tortured for days on end — hung by the legs and beaten. But I saw Belov standing in a cell without coercion and pointing a finger at others. That is, it was not a denunciation under pressure during interrogation, he said all of that on purpose.

I was in Kursk pre-trial detention center No. 1 from December 31, 2022 to January 3, 2024. It was there that I learned about Belov. We spent three weeks together in a cell, cause no one could stand him anymore. It was lucky that we were taken away from him then. There were 12 of us in the cell. I heard Belov and another guy expressing pro-Russian views.

There were moments when you could talk to him relatively normally. But he would switch very quickly, and start shouting to the entire camera that we were all “Nazis”, who killed civilians, and something like that. For example, about me he said that I was looting on the Snake Island. Everyone just laughed — what kind of looting could there be on the Snake Island? But he had to say something, cause for that, they gave him more food than the others.

Later, they began to put him on sedatives. At some point, the attitude of the guards towards him changed completely. Then he was being beaten just like everyone of us.

But they believed his stories that we were allegedly raping him or taking away his food. Although we had our own order — everyone had equal food, no one took anything from anyone. But the Russians didnʼt check it, they just beat us. They said that he told them this personally.

He did not hide that during the blockade of Mariupol he went AWOL. Then, according to him, "Azov" supposedly gave him shelter. I heard Belov tell the guards that the "Azov" took him hostage and forced him to serve them.

He was not the only one like that. There were 15 cells in the pre-trial detention center, and in each there was someone who collaborated with the Russians. I know about this because everyone was periodically moved from one cell to another, and we could talk. They did not hide it and said that they were forced to collaborate, and were threaten with their families. Because many of them had families under occupation. But, as I said, Belov was not pointing the finger at others under pression.

Belov openly said that he wanted to stay in Russia and that his sister lives there.

In a comment to Babel, Kostyantyn admits that his conditions in captivity were "inadequate", but does not confirm all the accusations.

After returning from captivity, Kostyantyn created an Instagram account and contacted "Smurf", who published a post about him. In the correspondence, he asks why he was considered a traitor. His old account from 2021, where photos from the service are published, is also publicly available. Currently, Kostyantyn publishes his photos, distributes videos with pro-Ukrainian sentiments, and sometimes writes in Ukrainian. Most of his followers — only 19 — have closed profiles or look like bots.

In a commentary for Babel, Kostyantyn says that everyone who was in captivity treated each other “inadequately”. According to him, everything that the exchanged fighters tell about him could really happen, but given the state of people in captivity, “it’s pointless to talk about it”. He adds that what happened in captivity “is a different life”. Kostyantyn also notes that even after returning, he feels that his psychological state is still very unstable.

Currently, Kostyantyn is undergoing rehabilitation, which lasts 30 days from the moment of his return from captivity.