The paper explores attempts to instrumentalize such factors as ethnicity and faith within the framework of russian captivity in 1914−1919. Captivity realities, as the author demonstrates, were such that manipulations with national and religious sentiments of foreign captives realized through various practices produced — besides sought-for results — a lot of side effects which altered the scenarios of events that their creators deemed the only possible. In large measure this reflected the fact that policy and economy, the generals and civil officialdom, the centre and the periphery affected the captivity patterns according to their interests and aims which conventionality could hardly be taken for granted.