Ukraine and Russia routinely exchange POWs. This wouldn't be possible if Russia almost never kept POWs alive.

A few random recent examples from this year (but there are many others):

https://caspiannews.com/news-detail/russia-and-ukraine-swap-...

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-ukraine-swap-205...

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2026/06/05/russia-u...

Correcting mistruths is not a defense of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.