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Significance
Captured Westerners have seized media attention, but in number and military significance they are eclipsed by volunteers from Belarus, Georgia, the Russian North Caucasus and other post-Soviet regions. Smaller numbers have volunteered for the Russian side.
Impacts
The Russian government is torn between the military need for mass mobilisation and the negative political optics.
Death sentences for Western combatants by Russian proxies give Moscow political leverage.
The Belarusian authorities will be particularly concerned about the post-war intentions of their nationals now in Ukraine.
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