Themes by tag: prisoners

21-year-old Daniil Melnyk studied at the Lviv Military Academy. He used to be a deputy platoon leader and defended the Kyiv region from the enemy at the beginning of the all-out invasion. In the Borodiansky district, he was ambushed but took the fights with other combatants. Getting his hands wounded, he couldn’t even bandage them. He gave his ammunition to a comrade. Then he lost consciousness. Two days later, the Russians found him and took him prisoner. He was first held in Ukraine, then in Belarus, Russia, and the occupied Crimea. On April 21, 2022, Daniel was released from captivity.

He lost both his feet, his left palm, and 4 fingers on his right hand. Now the defender wants to go back to active duty service. He recently took part in the Sculpture series photo project.

For reference: Last December, Ukrainian photographer Marta Syrko founded the Sculpture series photo project. The protagonists of her photographs are Ukrainian defenders who suffered as a result of Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine. (These are soldiers who were injured, got burned, or had their limbs amputated.) Civilians affected by the war can also join the project.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• prisoners

Olena Yahupova, a resident of Kamianka-Dniprovska, was abducted from her home by the occupiers in October last year. A denunciation was made against the woman for her husband’s Armed Forces of Ukraine service. While in the occupiers’ custody, Olena was tortured. The Russian military wanted to locate her beloved whereabouts. They were also gathering information about people with pro-Ukrainian views. Besides that, Olena was forced into labor slavery by the occupiers, and hostages were pressured to dig trenches. Yahupova did hard labor and lived in inhumane conditions. Olena managed to be freed after more than six months in captivity and is now in Kyiv.

• casualties
• prisoners
• russian crimes

On August 30, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Center for Civil Liberties is organizing “VOICES” rally in support of civilian prisoners.

The purpose of this rally is to draw the attention of both the Ukrainian and the global community to the problem of civilians forcibly detained by russia.

The rally will include the following events:

1. A meeting with relatives of civilians detained by russia;

2. Performance by the Actors For Future team, during which actors will show the conditions in which civilians are being kept;

3. Presentation of a brochure containing 50 stories of civilian prisoners, created within the framework of the Prisoners Voice initiative.

Accreditation is required. The rally will take place in Kyiv.

For reference: The Center for Civil Liberties is aware of more than 150 penitentiary facilities in russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine that detain civilians abducted during the occupation without reason. The prisoners were kidnapped from their own homes, on the way to the store or from the workplace.

If journalists are interested in the topics and stories of civilian prisoners and need professional comments, they are welcome to contact the Center for Civil Liberties.

• casualties
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Olha was an operating room nurse at the Department of Surgery in Hospital No. 555 in Mariupol. Russia’s full-scale invasion caught her while in Mariupol: she was helping to rescue wounded soldiers and civilians (including children). At that time, the medics did not even have time to sleep.

The enemy bomb hit the hospital on March 16, 2022. (The woman was in the operating room at the moment of the attack. The blast wave blew away her and her colleagues). The next day, the nurse was sent to the Ilich Iron and Steel Works together with other doctors. Under extremely tough conditions, in a bunker, they had to do, among other things, bandages and amputations, and doctors even performed open brain neurosurgery.

On April 12, 2022, the nurse and other doctors were taken prisoner. Olha was held in occupied Olenivka, Russian Taganrog, Valuiky, and Kursk, among other places. She was held in captivity for six months. The woman faced humiliation, interrogations, physical and psychological pressure.

For reference, more than 500 Ukrainian medical professionals are currently detained in Russia. Among them are both civilian and military doctors, according to the Center for Civil Liberties. Journalists can also ask for comments from the Center’s experts.

• doctors
• prisoners
• women

On August 27, a peaceful rally will be held in Kyiv at the initiative of the families of Mariupol border guards held in captivity.

Journalists will have an opportunity to talk in more detail with relatives of captured border guards.

• prisoners
• Kyiv

On August 23, at a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform, wives of Ukrainian captured border guards will tell the stories of their husbands. Journalists will also be able to learn about the struggle that the wives of prisoners are waging to bring their loved ones home. 

Participants:

Yaryna Herasymova, wife of a captured border guard;

Anzhela Zvereva, wife of a POW border guard;

Svitlana Shakirova, wife of a POW border guard;

Svitlana Polishchuk, wife of a POW border guard.

• military
• prisoners
• women

Yurik Mkrtchian is a military doctor. He worked as an anesthesiologist and intensivist at the Dnipro Military Hospital. At the end of March 2022, he was informed that there was a shortage of doctors in Mariupol, where heavy fighting was taking place. So Yurik arrived in the city. Rescued people at Illich Steel and Iron Works. 

On April 12, 2022, along with other medical workers, Yurik Mkrtchian was taken prisoner. First, they were taken to a filtration camp in Sartana. The camp was set up on the territory of a destroyed farm. The prisoners had to sleep on the floor, and they ate only once a day. And even in those conditions, doctors tried to continue treating wounded Ukrainian soldiers. A few days later, the prisoners were transferred to the penal colony in Olenivka. And from October 16 to November 3, the man was detained in occupied Horlivka. In total, the doctor spent 206 days in captivity.

For reference: more than 500 Ukrainian doctors are currently forcibly detained by russia, including both civilians and military medics, the Center for Civil Liberties reports. Journalists are welcome to request comments from the Center’s experts.

• doctors
• military
• prisoners

Mariana Mamonova, 31, is a doctor, Armed Forces of Ukraine Medical Service Captain who has been traveling to the ATO/JFO area since 2018.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, she served in Mariupol. In mid-March, she found out that she was bearing a child. Despite pregnancy, she continued to save the lives of others. Later, together with her colleagues and dozens of civilians, she was at the Illich Steel and Iron Works. She was captured by the occupiers on April 4. The pregnant woman spent six months in the Olenivka colony. On September 21, she was set free. Four days after the exchange, she gave birth to a daughter.

For reference: more than 500 Ukrainian doctors are currently being forcibly detained across Russia. There are both civilian and military doctors among them, according to the Center for Civil Liberties. Journalists can also ask for the Center’s experts’ comments.

• doctors
• military
• prisoners
• women

When russia first attacked Ukraine in 2014, Halyna Klempouz was still a student. The girl started actively volunteering. In 2016, Halyna decided to become a military officer, the girl held various positions in the army and ended up in air reconnaissance. A year later, Halyna was demobilized, her father died and the girl had to stay at home to take care of her mother. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the veteran wanted to mobilize, but Halyna’s boyfriend, who was defending Mariupol, made her promise that the girl would stay in the rear until he returned home. Halyna’s beloved was captured by the russians along with other defenders of Azovstal. Thus, Halyna’s struggle for Ukraine turned into a struggle for Ukrainian prisoners. Currently, the veteran works as a spokesperson at the Association of Azovstal Defenders’ Families.

• military
• prisoners
• women

On July 28, at 11:00 AM, Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform will hold a briefing entitled “Olenivka: Impunity – Encouragement of Terrorism.”  One year ago, the russians committed a terrorist attack brutally murdering the unarmed and powerless defenders of Azovstal, who had been held captive for more than two months at that time. As a result of the barbaric crime, according to unconfirmed data, at least 53 Ukrainian defenders were killed

Participants:

– Nataliia Zarytska, Chair of the “Woman of Steel,” wife of a released from captivity soldier of the Azov Regiment;

– Nataliia Pashniuk-Pashnieva, the mother of the defender of Azovstal who died as a result of the terrorist attack;

– Mariia Alieksieievych, the wife of the wounded defender of Azovstal, injured as a result of the terrorist attack in Olenivka;

– Nelia Shastun, the mother of two soldiers of the Azov Regiment, the elder of whom died, and the second was captured after leaving Azovstal and kept in the Olenivka barracks during the terrorist attack;

– Mykyta Shastun, Azovstal defender released from captivity, who was kept in the Olenivka barracks during the terrorist attack;

– Oleksandr Zarutskyi, international lawyer;

Prior accreditation is required.

• casualties
• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv