The Ukrainians 'disappearing' in Russia's prisons - BBC News

Finding Ukrainian civilians in Russian captivity is hard - and there is no formal way to secure their release.

2 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mykyta disappeared after being detained by Russian soldiers, according to his family, who say he did nothing wrongBy Olga Prosvirova & Zhanna BezpyatchukBBC World ServiceVolodymyr Buzynov has been searching for his brother Mykyta for nearly two years. Mykyta is one of thousands of Ukrainian civilians being held in prisons in Russia and the occupied territories for opposing the war. But with no charges, formal investigation, trial, or release date, their location is a mystery, and unlike prisoners of war, there is no formal mechanism to secure their freedom.

Warning: This story contains descriptions of torture

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Buzynov brothers, their mother, and Mykyta's girlfriend fled their home in Chernihiv in the north of the country to avoid the conflict. They went to the village of Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske, but by early March, Russian soldiers arrived there too. "We've come to liberate you from your government. Putin is cool," the soldiers exclaimed.

Volodymyr says the soldiers searched the village, confiscating phones and accusing his family of sharing the location of the Russian army - something they all deny. Then, Volodymr says, the soldiers set up what sounded like a fake execution.

"They took my brother Mykyta and others behind some trees and told them to line up against a wall, yelling: 'Get ready! Aim!' Then they took Mykyta's girlfriend Kateryna, and made her kneel next to him. Aiming a rifle at her head, they said to my brother: 'If you don't confess, we'll shoot her.'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67949942?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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