A Polish man who traveled to Ukraine out of personal skepticism over whether the war was truly taking place was allegedly tortured to death in a Russian detention center after attempting to cross into Russian-occupied territory, according to Gazeta Wyborcza. The family of Krzysztof Galos, who disappeared in 2023, is now demanding answers from Russian authorities and seeking to recover his body through diplomatic and legal channels.
Polish diplomats seek answers after death in Russian custody
Gazeta Wyborcza reported that Polish citizen Krzysztof Galos died in a Russian detention center in Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, in June 2023 after reportedly being tortured, according to former detainees and the Russian human rights organization Memorial. Despite his death occurring more than two years ago, Russian authorities never informed Poland's embassy, and the family only learned of the case through indirect sources. The Polish Foreign Ministry confirmed it had sent a diplomatic note to Moscow but has yet to receive a response.
Following Gazeta Wyborcza’s publications, Galos’s family submitted formal requests to several Polish institutions — including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs, President, Police, and ambassadors of both Ukraine and Russia — demanding full clarity on the circumstances of his death.
They also asked the Polish Border Guard for the exact date and time Galos crossed into Ukraine, but the agency refused to disclose this, citing state secrecy rules. However, Gazeta Wyborcza established unofficially that he crossed the border on 14 April 2023.
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From doubt to disappearance
According to the family’s lawyer and previous findings by Gazeta Wyborcza and Memorial, Galos traveled to Ukraine in April 2023 to see firsthand whether there was an ongoing war. Surveillance cameras later captured him near a hydroelectric plant in government-controlled Zaporizhzhia Oblast. This was the last time he was seen publicly.
Galos appears to have later attempted to cross into Russian-occupied territory. According to a Memorial source currently imprisoned in Russia, Russian forces detained him at a checkpoint and subsequently held him in a pre-trial detention center in Taganrog.
The Memorial source, along with a former Ukrainian prisoner who spoke to Wyborcza, confirmed that a Polish man named Krzysztof had been held in Taganrog. Both stated that he was tortured in custody and died in June 2023. The prison at that time held Ukrainian prisoners of war.
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Ne response from Russian officials
Using an anonymous independent Russian lawyer for security reasons, Galos’s son, Paweł, filed inquiries to Russia’s Foreign Ministry, a major general overseeing the Federal Penitentiary Service in Rostov Oblast, and the Southern Military District prosecutor. In the official letters, he demanded to know whether his father was alive, where he was being held, or — if deceased — where and when he died and whether the body could be returned.
Despite these efforts, there has been no reply from Russian officials. The Polish Foreign Ministry stated that its embassy in Moscow had sent a note requesting details of any detention or death involving Krzysztof Galos, but no answer has come from the Russian side.
