Captured

Stories

Torture, exile, and escape across the front line. How a Ukrainian lawyer broke free from occupation after imprisonment in an FSB torture chamber

Who branded “Glory to Russia” on a Ukrainian prisoner’s stomach? (investigation)

In the Taganrog detention center, in front of the guards, Viktoriia Roshchyna tried to cut her veins in order to get a psychologist brought to her, according to testimony from a person released from captivity.

“We uncovered about 800 bodies,” — a serviceman recounted how the Russians forced prisoners to exhume civilian bodies in Mariupol

“Mom, I don’t want to go back there…”: blind political prisoner Sizikov was released from a penal colony due to his health, then the decision was overturned

“You’ll die here. But you have a choice”: a freed Azov fighter recounts how they tried to recruit him to fight against Ukraine.

‘They laughed and rejoiced that they had captured a Pole’ : Russians captured a European civilian and tortured him to death

“He often crossed the administrative border with a Ukrainian passport”: yesterday’s student Mamut Belyalov was sentenced to 12 years in Crimea

“He wanted Henichesk to have its own voice.” The story of journalist Hennadii Osmak, imprisoned by the occupiers

The prison guards of “Izolyatsia” replicated torture methods shown in the American film The Mauritanian: the account of Daniil Bulhakov about his three years in the “DPR” prisons

Russian Captivity, Combat Missions, and the Death of His Wife: The Story of Former POW ‘Khamzat’

The story of a teacher rescued from captivity in the occupied territory by the Main Intelligence Directorate: '20 years in prison or the death penalty'

“Mom, thank you for saving Dad”: the story of a marine’s family who now believe in a New Year’s miracle

Sviatoslav “Kalyna” Palamar on the Pokrovsk direction, the siege and exit from Azovstal, Olenivka, Lefortovo, and his time in Turkey

“His back is covered with scars, they beat him to death,” — a border guard captured by a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group.

30 Months in Russian Captivity: War, Torture, a Blog, and a Book About Prisoner Life. The Story of a Former POW

The horrors of Russian captivity: the story of Snake Island defender Vladyslav Zadorin

"The guys were burning, screaming, someone was torn in half." the Olenivka terror attack and life after it in the memories of azov fighters

“Kh*khly, we’re already tired of beating you.” Azov fighter ‘Yuzhnyi’ on two years of torture in Taganrog, prisoners’ humor, and his own survival system.

Izium, a hand with bracelets, Serhii Sova. The story of one photo and the life of a Hero of Ukraine executed by the Russians

“They burned out tattoos with the names of children”: a naval serviceman on 39 months in Russian captivity

Between Torture and Prayer: The Three-Year Captivity of Azovstal’s Only Chaplain

“Relatives said: people like you should be wiped out.” The story of a woman who survived torture chambers and escaped twice from occupied Mariupol

“Captivity is a minor thing — the worst was watching Mariupol die”: the story of Azovstal defender Hennadii Zbandut

"He died because he was bleeding out”: Russians tortured a 59-year-old serviceman in captivity and tried to hide the cause of death

Freedom of speech in the occupied territories: repression and new mechanisms of pressure in 2025

“I Was a ‘Dead Ukrainian’ for the Russians: The Life of a 64-Year-Old Doctor, Antique Dealer, and Partisan from Donetsk, Held Captive for Seven Years.”

“I dream of living to see my grandson’s exchange.” The story of an Azov fighter’s family who have been waiting for him to return from captivity for three years

Stanislav Aseiev: The fear of being captured again is greater for me than being killed in war

‘If You Don’t Tell Me Everything, I’ll Rape Your Sister-in-Arms’: Marine on Brutal Torture of Women in Russian Prisons

Released from captivity, Maksym Butkevych: “I saw what the ‘Russian world’ is like from the inside… It’s a real Mordor in terms of values and freedom.”

Crimean resident Bohdan Ziza: “Write to political prisoners — it’s absolutely vital!”

“You’ve got partisans on your hands.” How a Crimean resident challenged Russia

“Stripping, rape, and ‘entertainment’ in the sauna: a conversation with a human rights defender about sexual violence and the path to punishing Russians

‘Doctor Evil.’ The doctor who tortured Ukrainian prisoners of war in one of the most secretive colonies in Mordovia (investigation)

Vika’s Last Assignment: What Happened to Ukrainian Journalist in Russian Captivity?

He calls torture a ‘spectrum of procedures’ and prison a ‘sanatorium.’ The story of a Kherson man who created the first male network of ‘graduates’ of torture chambers

“People Were Beaten with Tasers”: Who Is Torturing Azov Fighters in Captivity

ATO, “Azov,” 11.5 months in captivity, and a return to service: the story of combat medic from Uzhhorod, Halyna Zaitseva

“Forced them to perform oral sex”: Russian perpetrators who abused prisoners have been identified

Forced confessions, sentenced to life in Russia, and released from captivity: the story of an Azov fighter

“You cannot give up territory hoping that it will be the end of the war,” said pediatric doctor and Kremlin prisoner Yurii Shapovalov

“I’m walking, blood flooding my boots”: how an Azov fighter survived captivity three times

Released from captivity, Uzhhorod resident Robert Baloh: “In the cell, I set myself one goal — to preserve myself as much as possible.”

Archipelago of Torture, or How Russians Abuse Ukrainian Prisoners. Testimonies

Neighbors reported them. 280 days of family captivity: abuse and blackmail

“I died in that torture chamber”: the story of a Kherson resident

“They came again and beat my leg”: a 23-year-old azov fighter on more than three years in russian captivity

Women Released from Captivity Speak Frankly About the Violence They Endured: Four Stories

“I remember the smell of burnt bodies and the glass wool falling on my skin like a thousand needles.” The story of Azov fighter “Kraft” who survived the Olenivka attack

“Russia Is a Big Prison” — Head of Institute of National Remembrance on Systematic Use of Sexual Violence Against Ukrainian Men

Survived captivity and spoke out: what Russian forces do to prisoners of war.

The real Sentsov. The story of a director and assault soldier with thick skin

‘No Prisoners Taken’: Russians Ordered to Execute Ukrainian Prisoners of War

After captivity — without arms and legs. A Ukrainian soldier learns to live and dreams of driving again

“I consider this a God-pleasing cause.” The story of a chaplain and IT specialist from Luhansk who became an FPV drone operator.

“He took the horrors of Bucha very hard.” The story of Crimean resident Bohdan Ziza, sentenced by Russia for “terrorism.”

“I miss his fried potatoes and the word ‘kitty’”: 5 stories about couples separated by captivity

"There were 20% of prison guards loyal to us in captivity": An interview with a soldier of the Third Assault Brigade, Maksym Levchenko

“Even darker horrors unfold in the torture chambers”: Azovstal defender “Nava” releases a book about captivity

“See you soon” and a life sentence: what it’s like to wait for a loved one from Siberia in the 21st century

Putin’s iconostasis, letters to the “heroes of the SMO,” and lectures on “reunification.” How the occupiers are reshaping children’s consciousness and using knowledge as a weapon

He escaped captivity twice, but failed the third time. The story of a Mariupol defender who finally returned home

A son and brother ‘reunited’ thanks to a YouTube video: how Russia hides Azov prisoners from the world

A Marine from Zmiinyi: captivity, interrogations about the “Russian warship,” and Bandera

“They told my mother that I am an enemy of the people,” – the story of the head of the Dvorichanska community, who spent nearly three months in captivity

"Azov" and "Azovstal, captivity, Olenivka, torture in a detention center, the exchange, and the first tiramisu in freedom — Svitlana Vorova (call sign ‘Hrazia’) speaks in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda about 11 months of Russian captivity.

“I Cannot Do Otherwise”: the Life of a Ukrainian Soldier Before His Execution in Captivity

“Now I will live for two”: the love story of Valeriia and Andrii, who married in a bunker at Azovstal

We were given three books. One of them always had to be written by Lenin”: Azov fighter Yaroslav on Mariupol, captivity, and freedom

“There, on the little star – Kyrylo”: a mother’s story of surviving captivity and losing her soldier son

“They don’t consider you a human being”: stories of women who survived Russian captivity.

“I sometimes think of Oleksiy, ill and captive. Hope lingers, faint but alive.” — Remembering the Azov Soldiers Lost in Olenivka

Unbreakable: the story of a Kharkiv woman who, at 70, ended up in a Russian occupation basement prison

“Not forgetting is not enough. I ask you to speak”: a wife’s story of an Azov fighter who survived the Olenivka attack.

The first exchange of women: what happened to Ukrainian servicewomen in Russian captivity.

Tork from the Azov Regiment on captivity: ‘They went berserk over the map of Ukraine on my chest

“In that hell, she said goodbye to life more than once.” The story of a woman who returned from Russian captivity

189 days of captivity of a military medic and what came before and after. The story of Olena Kryvtsova

Declared missing, but held captive: the story of a 19-year-old marine defending Mariupol

She returned in her ninth month of pregnancy: the story of a medic released from Russian captivity

"No replies to my messages": a love story torn apart by occupation and captivity

'A week in the basement, starving and losing my mind' – a childcare worker from Kherson on her captivity during the occupation

‘They made me stand in front of a pit with corpses.’ The story of a Kherson resident’s week in Russian captivity

Torture and ‘Terrorism’ Cases: The Story of Mariupol Volunteers Released from Captivity in Olenivka

“I heard them carrying out bodies”: an ATO veteran from Kherson recounts how he survived captivity by Russian occupiers

At any moment they could be ‘discarded’: how male prisoners survive in a filtration camp

Azov fighter ‘Vyshnia’ returned from captivity speaks about interrogations and threats over the Ukrainian language

"I dream that one day I will return home — to a Ukrainian Mariupol": Kira Obedynska, the first girl returned from occupation, in Uzhhorod

Doctor Hrabovskyi: The story of a medic from ‘Azovstal’ who is held in Russian captivity

The occupiers detained 33 volunteers and branded them ‘terrorists’. The stories of drivers who rescued people in Mariupol.

An Azov Regiment fighter on suicides within the walls of Azovstal and death penalty threats in captivity by the occupiers