Ukraine has submitted a list of POWs to Russia for a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap. Many Ukrainian soldiers have now spent over three years in Russian captivity, where they are often being tortured, abused and offered to "join Russian forces to then occupy Europe."
Russians themselves were willing (or were ordered instead of asked) to go die in WW2 against Nazi Germany. Was this a “sheer hatred of germans” that was due to “germanphobic propaganda”? Perhaps a bit, but there cleary was a worthy cause behind it all.
If it meant an end to the fascist regime of Russia, it’d be worth it. We all die anyway at some point, why not die for a good cause then.