Themes by tag: prisoners

Peaceful events are planned in 28 cities across Ukraine to raise awareness of the defenders of Azovstal and other soldiers still in enemy captivity.

On January 10, events will be held in Okhtyrka, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Shpola, Volochysk, Pavlohrad, and Lviv.

On January 11, events are planned in Kyiv, Krolevets, Pivdennoukrainsk, Kremenchuk, Mykolaiv, Korop, Korosten, Obukhiv, Ovruch, Dolynska, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Lozova, Uzhhorod, Berdychiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Rivne, Chernivtsi, and Odesa.

The events are organized by families of prisoners of war from the Mariupol garrison. Recently released Ukrainian captives also often join these actions.

• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

“Don’t be silent. Captivity kills.” Under this message, peaceful rallies will take place on December 20-21 to draw attention to Ukrainian prisoners of war and service members listed as missing in action.

The events aim to remind the public of the defenders of Azovstal and other soldiers who remain in enemy captivity. Organizers say demonstrations are planned in 30 cities across the country.

On December 20, rallies are scheduled in Arbuzynka, Okhtyrka, Chernihiv, Irpin, Shpola, Volochysk, Zaporizhia, Bila Tserkva, Dnipro, and Pavlohrad.

On December 21, events are scheduled to take place in Kyiv, Krolevets, Pivdennoukrainsk, Mykolaiv, Uman, Obukhiv, Ovruch, Cherkasy, Korostyshiv, Uzhhorod, Lozova, Poltava, Dolynska, Berdychiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Rivne, Chernivtsi, Kovel, Odesa, and Lviv.

The rallies are organized by families of prisoners of war from the Mariupol garrison. Ukrainians who have been released from captivity often join the gatherings, standing alongside relatives to keep the issue in public view.

• prisoners

Former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolaienko joined Ukraine’s territorial defense forces on the first day of russia’s full-scale invasion. When russian troops occupied the southern city in early March 2022, the 62-year-old former official went underground. He also took part in public rallies against the occupation, joining thousands of Kherson residents who defied russian forces. The largest demonstration, on March 13, 2022, drew more than 10,000 people into the streets.

In April that year, russian forces abducted Mykolaienko. He was held for more than two weeks at a police station in Kherson that the russian military had converted into a makeshift detention and torture site. According to accounts of his captivity, he was subjected to repeated beatings, interrogations, and abuse.

From Kherson, Mykolaienko was transferred to occupied Sevastopol and later moved twice more between detention facilities. He returned home on Aug. 24, 2025, as part of another prisoner exchange. Before that, he had twice refused to be included in swaps, opting instead to give his place to another captive who was gravely ill.

Mykolaienko is still recovering from the physical and psychological toll of his imprisonment. Even so, he has already resumed efforts to help secure the release of other Ukrainians held in russian captivity.

He can be reached for online or in-person meetings in Kherson by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kherson

Volodymyr Sorochan is originally from Kherson. In 2014, he joined the Ukrainian military and served in Crimea. After russia annexed the peninsula, he remained loyal to his oath and relocated to mainland Ukraine with his comrades. He later continued his service under contract with the 36th Brigade.

Volodymyr encountered the start of the full-scale invasion while on duty near Mariupol. He was captured in April 2022 after attempting to escape the Azovmash plant in Mariupol. He spent nearly three years in russian captivity. There, he endured daily beatings and constant hunger. The former prisoner recalls receiving meager portions of slop instead of proper food.

On October 18, 2024, Volodymyr was returned to Ukraine. After receiving treatment and undergoing rehabilitation, he returned to civilian life. He now maintains a blog where he shares his experiences. He has also finished writing a book in which he recounts his story.

Journalists can speak with Volodymyr Sorochan online or in person in Lviv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Lviv

Azat Azatian has been uprooted three times in his life. As a child, he left Armenia with his family. In 2014, he fled the russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region. And in 2022, he once again found himself under occupation, this time in Berdiansk, in the Zaporizhia region.

When russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Azat began volunteering in Berdiansk. He brought food to people stranded for hours at checkpoints and helped civilians evacuate to Ukrainian-controlled territory. That work drew the attention of russian forces. Azat was abducted, held in captivity for 43 days, and subjected to torture. He later said that thoughts of his wife and three children were what allowed him to endure the ordeal.

After managing to leave the occupied territory and undergo medical treatment, Azat chose not to retreat into private life. Instead, he returned to helping others. He went on to open 11 assistance centers for displaced people, providing support to those who, like him, had lost their homes and sense of security.

In 2025, alongside other civilians who had survived captivity, Azat co-founded the Way of the Freeman rehabilitation center in Zaporizhia. The center focuses on people who endured detention and abuse, offering free psychological counseling, legal support, and physical recovery sessions.

Azat Azatian is available to speak with people seeking support both online and in person in Zaporizhia, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Zaporizhzhia

Vadym Shevchenko was living with his parents in Polohy, a city in the Zaporizhia region, when russian forces seized it in early March 2022. As explosions shook their neighborhood, the family sheltered in the basement of their home, hoping the fighting would pass.

Just two weeks later, on March 15, 2022, the 25-year-old and a neighbor attempted to flee the occupied city. According to the woman who was with him, armed men in uniforms of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic stopped their car at the final checkpoint and pulled Vadym out. His mother, Olena, believes his lifelong burn scars on his hands led the occupiers to mistakenly suspect he was a soldier.

He was first detained in Melitopol and later transferred to facilities in Donetsk and Olenivka. Today, he is being held in a penal colony in Mordovia, russia. Olena sends letters through the International Committee of the Red Cross and has received two replies from her son. 

She has also learned that he has lost about 30 kilograms during his imprisonment.

Determined to help others facing hardship, Olena now volunteers with the charity “World. Ukraine. Polohy,” supporting families in frontline communities with food assistance.

Interviews with Olena can be arranged in Zaporizhia, in Kyiv, or remotely.

• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv
• Zaporizhzhia

The public organization Civilians in Captivity, along with families of civilian hostages, activists, and concerned Ukrainians, will hold a peaceful rally titled “Let’s make a wish: For everyone to return home”. The rally is dedicated to raising awareness about russia’s illegal detention of civilian captives. The event will take place in Kyiv on December 13.

The rally aims to draw the attention of the international community and Ukrainian authorities to the urgent need to immediately release all citizens unlawfully detained by russia.

The rally’s central element will be an artistic performance visualizing the tragedy of separation.

• prisoners
• Kyiv

On November 22 and 23, demonstrations will take place in 30 Ukrainian cities to draw attention to prisoners of war and those still missing in action, including defenders of Azovstal and other soldiers held in enemy captivity.

The events on November 22 are scheduled in Arbuzynka, Okhtyrka, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Irpin, Shpola, Volochysk, Dnipro, Pavlohrad, and Lviv. On November 23, gatherings are planned in Kyiv, Krolevets, Pivdennoukrainsk, Kremenchuk, Mykolaiv, Korop, Obukhiv, Ovruch, Poltava, Korostyshiv, Cherkasy, Uzhhorod, Lozova, Dolynska, Berdychiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Rivne, Kovel, Odesa, and Chernivtsi.

The initiatives are organized by the families of Mariupol garrison prisoners, together with Ukrainians recently released from captivity, to support ongoing advocacy efforts.

• prisoners
• Kyiv

Valentyn Polianskyi is 24, but three of those years were spent in Russian captivity. A native of Ukraine’s Kherson region, he signed a contract with the 36th Separate Marine Brigade at 21 and soon found himself on the front lines of Russia’s full-scale assault. By February 26, 2022, he was stationed at the Illich steel plant in Mariupol, helping to secure provisions for approximately 130 troops as the siege tightened.

When the order to surrender was issued, his partner pleaded with him to do whatever it took to survive and come home. She was pregnant at the time; their daughter was born after he had already been taken prisoner.

Polianskyi says he endured three years of severe abuse in detention. He recalls beatings, electric shocks, routine humiliation, food deprivation, and being forced to memorize Russian songs. He was released on April 19, 2025, as part of a prisoner exchange.

After returning home, Polianskyi married and initially considered rejoining his brigade, but his wife asked him not to go back to the front. He is now working to rebuild his life and adjust to civilian routines.

Those wishing to meet or speak with him can do so, both online or in person in Khmelnytskyi, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Khmelnytskyi

Ivan Zabavskyi, 29, was born in Tavilzhanka, a village in the Kharkiv oblast located just 20 kilometers from the russian border. Before the full-scale invasion, he moved to Kharkiv for work.

When russian forces seized part of the Kharkiv oblast, Tavilzhanka, where Ivan’s mother, Maryna, remained, was occupied. In September 2022, Ukrainian troops liberated the Kharkiv oblast, placing the village on the front line. Ivan lost contact with his mother. Despite his relatives’ pleas, he cycled back to Tavilzhanka to rescue her. During the occupation, Maryna was forced to bury her older sister, who was killed by shelling. Just one day before Ivan set out to save her, Maryna moved to another village, causing them to miss each other.

Maryna later learned that russian soldiers had kidnapped her son and taken him to russia. Ivan was accused of spying for Ukraine. In January 2025, a court in St. Petersburg sentenced Ivan to 11 years in a strict-regime penal colony. In June 2025, the Second Court of Appeal in St. Petersburg upheld the sentence, leaving it unchanged.

Ivan’s mother now frequently attends peaceful rallies organized by the NGO “Civilians in Captivity”.

Journalists can speak with Maryna in the Kharkiv oblast, in Kyiv, or online by prior arrangement.

• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kharkiv
• Kyiv