Thousands of Ukrainian civilians endure in a nightmarish series of Russian detention centers.
In the gut-wrenching woes of this war, the struggle of thousands of civilians, abducted by Russia, is a tragic tale that risks fading into obscurity.
Trigger Warning: This report contains disturbing details of torture and sexual abuse
These innocent souls are seldom discussed in fundamental discourses like Donald Trump's peace plan, let alone any demands for their release by Russia.
Yet, their suffering is beyond words. Ukraine has identified over 15,000 names of victims, who have been imprisoned across 180 prisons in Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine and Russia itself, stretching as far as Siberia.
It's a war crime to hold civilians captive during a conflict, but Vladimir Putin's regime continues unabated. Worse, there is substantial evidence suggesting they are subjected to painful tortures, sexual assaults, and even grim executions.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Nobel Prize-winning Ukrainian human rights lawyer, has interviewed hundreds of survivors. Her accounts include tales of individuals beaten, sexually assaulted, confined in wooden boxes, and physically mutilated with their fingernails torn out or drilled. One survivor described being subjected to electrical shocks through her genitalia, while another narrated the gruesome experience of having her eye gouged out with a spoon.
When Russian forces captured territory north of Kyiv at the onset of their unlawful invasion, they targeted men, among them Dmytro Khilyuk. His elderly parents have not seen him since receiving a short letter from captivity several months ago.
His mother Halyna, bedridden after a stroke, expressed her anguish, "We're old and we're sick. We've been without our only child for four years now, not knowing anything, where he is, how he is." She wept as she recounted the torment of living with the uncertainty about their son's fate. "I just can't take it anymore. Why is my child suffering like this? It's been four years. All we get are endless talks, talks, and more talks. And nothing changes. I could die any day... and never see my child again."
Throughout his captivity, Khilyuk has drastically lost weight and many of his teeth. A fellow prisoner who was later released described his pitiful state. Concerns about his mental health are growing, and it's unclear how to help him, according to fellow journalist and friend Stas Kozluk.
Ukrainian authorities can barely gather information about the missing civilians. Russia provides no information about the civilians it is illegally detaining, defying international standards of warfare.
The world, according to Oleksandra Matviichuk, risks forgetting these thousands of innocent victims, trapped in the labyrinth of Russian prisons infamous for their cruel regime of abuses. "I think the world doesn't understand, first, the sheer cruelty and inhuman conditions in which Ukrainians are held in Russian captivity," she says. "Second, they don't understand that Russia detained not just military, but civilians. And according to the Geneva Convention, they have to be released immediately without any exchanges, without any conditions."
Diplomatic efforts to end this war are slow-moving, and there has been limited pressure on Russia to cease the illegal detention of thousands of innocent civilians.
- The war crimes committed by Vladimir Putin's regime against civilians, such as torture, sexual assault, and executions, are seldom discussed in diplomatic talks about peace and politics, keeping the tragic fate of thousands of abducted civilians in the shadows.
- The suffering of innocent Ukrainian civilians, hundreds of whom have been subjected to gruesome acts of violence and abuse, is rarely a focus in mainstream general news, despite the evidence of ongoing war crimes.
- The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia has resulted in numerous war crimes, including the illegal detention and abuse of countless civilians, which is a severe violation of international standards during war and conflicts.
