Themes by tag: prisoners

Yuliia’s father, Serhii Khrypun, is a civilian who, at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, found himself under occupation in a village in Zaporizhia.  Serhii tried to leave the Russia-occupied territory many times, but having no passport, he was refused to pass through the checkpoints. Later, the family found out Russia had taken Serhii prisoner. Yuliia collected bits of information about her father from the military, who were released through exchanges. In September 2022, the girl received the last news from her father, a letter in which Serhii wrote that they were being treated well in captivity. However, Yuliia talked to those who had seen her father. From them, she learned that the man was subjected to electrical torture and was forced to sing the Russian anthem for six hours a day.

Together with other relatives of the prisoners, Yuliia created the NGO Civilians in Captivity. They contact all possible organizations to find out where and under what conditions their loved ones are taken captive.

• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Nataliia Sosmii, a cadet of the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National Air Force University, faced the Russian invasion in Kherson. In the first months of the occupation, she rode her bike around the city and passed information about the Russians to the Ukrainian soldiers she possessed. In late August, Nataliia decided to leave Kherson. But the flight was postponed, and 30 armed Russians broke into the cadet’s house. Natalia’s home was searched, and she was taken to a temporary detention center there. There, she was beaten and psychologically pressured: in particular, her 16-year-old daughter was threatened with rape. “They said that they would take me to Donbas and let me go towards the Ukrainian military to be shot by Ukrainian soldiers. I said that I would rather be killed by my people rather than die here,” the cadet recalls.

Nataliia also heard how her classmate Oleksandr was being tortured. To save him, she agreed to take part in the recording of a Russian propaganda video. Nataliia has left Kherson and is safe and ready to talk to the media.

• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women

After being drafted into the army on February 25 last year, Oksana’s husband, Andrii Hankevych, became a combat medic. The Last time Oksana had a telephone conversation with her husband was at 11 p.m. on July 5, 2022, and at 1 a.m., he died. That time, her husband told Oksana: “You are strong. You will succeed no matter what happens to me.” These words enabled Oksana to move on, seek support, and raise her three children. The woman calls the Office of Support for Military Families in Lviv her second home. Thanks to the people at the Office, Oksana was able to create her own project, “Keep on Living.” And she is now trying to help the wives and mothers of soldiers who have been killed, gone missing, or captured. The project consists of several parts, including a photo shoot for women. The project’s author is convinced that positive emotions are the medicine that gives military families the strength to persevere in difficult times.

• casualties
• dead
• prisoners
• women

Military man Andrii Merchuk knocked out an enemy tank along the Lyman axis in May 2022. He was wounded, but did not leave his position. And before being captured, he even managed to write a message to his beloved Anastasiia. For some time Andrii was considered missing. Later, news came that he was in russian prisons. In April of this year, Andrii returned from captivity and soon married Anastasiia. His beloved serves as a patrol officer in Lutsk police.

• military
• prisoners

Vadym Ihnashov, a sailor from Kherson, served on a Portuguese merchant ship. The man learned about the outbreak of hostilities and the occupation of his hometown from a chat in Telegram, where his frightened friends wrote that they heard explosions from the Chornobaivka village. A few days later, the ship entered the port of the Russian city of Vladivostok. There, the Russians first interrogated all the Ukrainians who worked on the ship, then forcibly abducted Vadym from the vessel and brought false charges against him for publicly calling for extremism.

A Russian court sentenced Ihnashov to 1 year and four months in prison. A week before his release, the man was even transferred to a penal colony. And there, the institution staff offered him to apply for Russian citizenship, saying that Kherson had already become part of Russia. Vadym refused.

Currently, Vadym Ihnashov is outside Ukraine, but journalists can communicate with him on WhatsApp.

• prisoners

Experts from the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR) will present their analysis of the places where Ukrainian prisoners of war are being held in Russia at a briefing in Kyiv. The event will also be attended by relatives of the prisoners.

Speakers:

– Tetyana Katrychenko, the MIHR coordinator 

– Maria Klymyk, investigative journalist at the MIHR

– Andriy Yakovlev, lawyer, and expert with the MIHR

– Iryna Latysh, a prisoner of war relative

– Nataliia Yepifanova, head of the “Warrior’s Liberation” public organization, a relative of a prisoner of war

For reference: Based on interviews with service members released from captivity, the Media Initiative for Human Rights identified and mapped 42 places of detention of prisoners of war on the territory of Russia. These are pre-trial detention centers and penal colonies. The public organization describes ten of them in detail in new analytical material. These are the places where the highest number of prisoners of war are held and where a large number of war crimes are committed.

• prisoners
• Kyiv

On June 24, within the XI Book Arsenal, journalists will have a chance to hear the story of the women held captive by Russians (WOMEN’S VOICES).

Participants of the event:

– Mariana Mamonova, a military medic from Lviv, who was captured pregnant while leaving Mariupol and held prisoner for six months;

– Viktoriia Andrusha, a teacher from the Chernihiv region who was abducted by the occupiers from her parent’s house and held in captivity for six months;

– Lyudmila Huseynova, a human rights activist from the Donetsk region who was arrested in 2019 and held in prison for three years.

Journalists can be assisted in organizing professional comments on this topic or an interview with one of the event participants.

• prisoners
• women

Tetyana Marina, the wife of the Spanish citizen Mariano García Calatayud, who was kidnapped in Kherson, is seeking the release of her husband from russian captivity. Mario is a well-known volunteer who has been living in Ukraine since 2014. On March 19, 2022, the Spaniard was kidnapped by the russians. Since that time, the wife has received only one confirmation from the military prosecutor’s office of the Black Sea Fleet that her husband has been detained, but there is no information in which pre-trial detention center he is being held. Tetyana assumes that Mario is in Crimea, because that is where the reply came from.

For reference: Currently, there are more than 22,000 civilians held hostage in russia and the temporarily occupied territories. 

• prisoners
• volunteers

On May 27, relatives of civilian prisoners from Kyiv region will organize the peace walk “Free the civilian prisoners.”

The organizers of the walk say that it has been almost 14 months since the civilian residents of Dymer and neighboring communities were taken captive by the aggressor, the russian federation.

“Thousands of civilians are currently held captive by russia. They are tortured, starved, put under psychological pressure and placed in an information vacuum. Innocent people are abused morally and physically. All of them should be released. WITHOUT CONDITIONS AND EXCHANGES!”.

Time: 9:30 AM

Location: Dymer Village Council.

• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On May 20, a charity marathon “Run for those from Steel. RUN FOR AZOVSTAL. Run to support the defenders of Azovstal.” (With the support of the YOUkraine Charitable Foundation and the Women of Steel public organization)

The organizers want to remind about and call for the release of prisoners who have not yet returned home, to help their families, and to help those who have already been released from captivity.

The charity event aims to raise UAH 200 thousand. All the funds raised will be used for rehabilitation activities for the released prisoners and support for their families.

Among other things, the event program includes an exhibition and sale of “Eyes of Azov” exclusive photographs signed by the defenders from the former head of the Azov Regiment’s press service, Dmytro Kozatskyi, call sign Orest.

• military
• prisoners