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Among the many horrors of the war, the plight of thousands of civilians abducted by Russia is one of the most distressing, yet it risks being overlooked.
Warning: This report contains details of torture and sexual abuse
Their fate is omitted in Donald Trump’s peace plan currently under discussion, let alone any demands for their release by Russia.
However, their suffering is truly horrific. Ukraine has identified nearly 16,000 individuals who have disappeared into a network of 180 prisons in Russian-occupied Ukraine and Russia, as far as Siberia.
It is a war crime to take civilians hostage during a conflict, yet Vladimir Putin’s regime has not been deterred.
Worse still, there is ample evidence of torture, sexual abuse, and killing in custody.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Nobel Prize-winning Ukrainian human rights lawyer, stated: “I interviewed hundreds of individuals who survived Russian captivity, men and women, mostly civilians, who recounted how they were beaten, raped, and forced into wooden boxes.
“Their fingers were cut off, nails were ripped out, and they received electrical shocks through their genitalia. One woman told me how her eye was extracted with a spoon.”
Dmytro Khilyuk has been detained by Russia since March 2022
When Russia took over territories north of Kyiv at the start of the invasion, they targeted men, including Dmytro Khilyuk.
Apart from a brief letter sent from captivity a few months later, his elderly parents have not seen him since.
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Mr Khilyuk’s mother and father, Halyna and Vasyl, show photo of their son
‘I just can’t take it anymore’
“We’re old and we’re sick,” his mother Halyna, bedridden after a stroke, said to us.
“It’s been four years since we last saw our only child, with no knowledge of where he is or how he’s doing.
She wept as she shared the agony of living with the uncertainty about their son.
“I can’t take it anymore. Why must my child suffer this way? It’s been four years. All we’ve had are endless talks, but nothing has changed. I may die any day… and never see my child again.”
Mr Khilyuk’s mother, Halyna
Khilyuk has lost half his weight and most of his teeth
A year ago a fellow prisoner who had shared a cell with Mr Khilyuk was released. He reported that Mr Khilyuk had lost half his weight and most of his teeth.
Fellow journalist and friend of Mr Khilyuk, Stas Kozluk, expressed concern about his state of mind.
“We can’t imagine what can happen to a person’s mind when captured and held for three years under such conditions. To be honest, I don’t know how to help him. And that’s the most terrifying thing,” he stated.
Russia releases no information
Ukrainian authorities can only gather pieces of information about the abducted civilians. Mr Kozluk told us that the detained individuals learn the phone numbers and names of relatives of other prisoners they are held with.
Those released share whatever information they can.
Russia provides no information about the civilians it is holding, violating the rules of war.
