Photo Unrelated to the Canadian General Allegedly Arrested in Mariupol

Misbar investigated the widely circulated claim and found it misleading. The image was taken from a video clip published on February 24, 2022, in which Ukrainian soldiers were apprehended by separatist forces in Petrovsky village in Donetsk city, eastern Ukraine. The video was released before the Russian forces besieged Mariupol and took control of the city on April 21, 2022.

The circulating photo was among Russian news websites and agencies' reports of 14 Ukrainian soldiers surrendering in the Donetsk region.

Canadian General Trevor Cadieu

The claim emerged after Russian media reported on May 4, 2022, that pro-Russian forces had apprehended Canadian General Trevor Cadieu while attempting to flee the Azovstal factory in Mariupol.

The Canadian Ministry of Defense announced that Cadieu retired from the Ukrainian army on April 5, 2022. 

However, he has been under investigation for sexual harassment since 2021.

Ministry of Defense sources have told Canadian media that since his retirement from the army, Cadieu has gone to Ukraine to fight alongside Ukrainian forces, without specifying his location in Ukraine. Cadieu's movements, according to the Ministry of Defense, have become a personal matter since his retirement from the Canadian Army. 

Was Trevor Cadieu Arrested?

Many speculate about Cadieu's presence in Mariupol, and his arrest while fleeing the Azovstal factory, after Russian forces imposed a siege on the city on March 1, 2022. In April, Mariupol's mayor declared that the city is closed to anyone attempting to enter it, and attempting to leave it is extremely dangerous.

According to the Russian News Agency, a spokesman for the Donetsk People's Republic stated that a retired Canadian army general may be trapped in Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant.