''We were sent as cannon fodder': Weeping Russian POWs

Weeping Russian prisoners of war have said they had no idea they were being sent to invade Ukraine and were used like 'cannon fodder' by commanders who threw them into battle against 'peaceful people defending their territory' after Vladimir Putin's forces took heavy losses in the opening days of the conflict.

'This is not our war. Mothers and wives, collect your husbands. There is no need to be here,' an injured soldier sat in front of a Ukrainian flag was filmed saying. Other footage showed handcuffed Russian prisoner crying, while saying: 'They don't even pick up the corpses, there are no funerals'.

Ukraine says Russia has lost 5,840 soldiers in the opening days of the conflict - some of its fastest losses since the Second World War, if the figure proves accurate - with Putin's men suffering a series of embarrassing defeats as they tried to pull off a quick victory but instead met with stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces.