Russia “fattens up” tortured prisoners before exchanges to hide years of abuse, freed civilians say
Prisoners washed, fed, and warned not to bruise themselves—then traded back to Ukraine.
Browsing Tag
Russian captivity
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Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna posthumously named World Press Freedom Hero
Award honors journalist killed in Russian captivity for her fearless reporting from occupied Ukraine
“I counted every single day”: 2025 Ukrainian POWs endured three years of Russian captivity — and finally came back home
185 soldiers and 20 civilians return from torture and darkness, greeted by tears, smiles, and the bitter weight of friends still imprisoned.
PACE calls for sanctions pressure on Russia over 800 crimes against Ukrainian journalists
From captivity to killings, Europe demands justice for journalists and citizen reporters risking everything under gunpoint.
Putin gave him 13 years. Europe gave him its highest honor.
He taught English with cigarette packets in Putin's prison. Europe just honored his courage
Russia stages prisoner inspections by concealing tortured Ukrainian POWs, OSCE experts reveal
The independent expert mission concluded that Russian authorities deliberately hide evidence of torture by showing international monitors only prisoners in relatively good physical condition, while over 90% of returning POWs report abuse in captivity.
BBC: Ukrainian civilian freed after years in Russian captivity — his story is one of beatings, starvation, and survival
Journalist Dmytro Khyliuk spent three and a half years in captivity without charges before finally returning home in a rare swap.
Kherson’s mayor who survives dog attacks and mock executions, reveals how he stayed loyal to his homeland in Russian captivity
While Russia presented collaboration as survival, Mykolaienko's refused to do it, despite enduring torture three times per day.
Ukrainian POW returns from 7-year Russian imprisonment with his cat
Stanislav Panchenko, 25, returned to Ukraine with 84 other released prisoners. Unlike the others, Panchenko brought home his cat Myshko, whom he had rescued and raised during 4 years in Russian captivity.
Ukrainian journalist abducted from his garden in 2022 returns from Russian captivity weighing less than 45 kg
Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Khyliuk returned from Russian captivity in the latest exchange on 24 August, weighing less than 45 kg (99 lbs), as he spent three years in Russian prison after his abduction near Kyiv in 2022.
Tortured Ukrainian reporter Victoria Roshchyna honored with highest state award after death in Russian captivity
Roshchyna, who bore knife wounds and electrical torture scars before dying in Russian detention, received Ukraine's Order of Freedom posthumously from President Zelenskyy for her "civic courage."
Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna suffered neck injuries, fractures in Russian captivity – new autopsy
Ukraine discovered new evidence of torture in the death of journalist Victoria Roshchyna, with a recent forensic examination revealing neck trauma and bone fractures not identified in previous reports.
Russia turns occupied Mariupol’s Azovstal plant into its launchpad of terror, building bases where Ukrainian defenders once held line
What was once a symbol of resistance now serves Moscow’s war machine, hidden, hardened, and ready to strike again.
Seriously wounded Ukrainian POWs return home from Russian captivity filled with torture
The exchange on 4 July included soldiers captured during Mariupol siege in 2022 who spent over three years in Russian custody.
United24: Ukrainian soldier tells how Russian surgeon burnt Glory to Russia on his body while in captivity
The inscription was made by the same Russian surgeon who had operated on his serious combat injuries, while the soldier lay unconscious.
Ukraine opens first rehab center for torture survivors after Russian captivity
The facility features both traditional therapy spaces and art workshops to help individuals recover from beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence and psychological torture as 90% of Ukrainian POWs experience some sort of abuse.
He endured what most wouldn’t survive: Ukraine returns its 60-year old warrior from Russian captivity
He spent years in a Russian cell and still made it back.
What three years of Russian captivity did to Ukrainian soldier
Mariupol defender Oleksandr was captured in 2022 and returned home in a recent prisoner exchange.
Doctors began removing “Glory to Russia” words carved on Ukrainian POW body
The propaganda inscription was discovered when the wounded serviceman regained consciousness after surgery in Russian custody.
Ukraine conducts fourth POW swap in a week, returns defenders held since 2022
The latest group includes wounded and ill personnel captured during major battles.