Ukrainian soldiers captured Russian Protasov Kirill Yuryevich, who said he ended up at the front because of workplace problems and the prospect of criminal prosecution.

The interrogation video was published by the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Roman the Great.

The occupier is originally from Novgorod. After 2–3 years he moved with his parents to the Murmansk region. Later he went to study economics in St. Petersburg. He graduated, continued his studies in postgraduate school, and worked in a financial institution as a marketing specialist.

In his 4th year of university, he was offered a study program at the University of Economics in Kraków, where he conducted research with foreign students in English and French.

Until the age of 30, he studied and worked actively. He has a wife and two children. Despite a normal civilian life, he decided to join the occupation army due to potential legal trouble — his employer often misused budget funds.

To avoid criminal charges, he quit and, following the advice of a lawyer acquaintance, joined the so-called “SVO”.

According to him, he was promised that, since he worked in marketing, he would help somewhere in the rear in his specialization.

But something went wrong — he was thrown into assaults, and then into so-called “flag-planting” operations, where he was eventually captured by Ukrainian forces.