Captured

Stories

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

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

“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.

“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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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.

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

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

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

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