ODESA, Ukraine — Torture and beatings: Ukrainian servicemen captured by Russia may be fortunate to return home safe, but they could be left with long-lasting emotional and physical scars.
Mykhaylo (20), a soldier, said that he had not completed his military training when attack helicopters attacked Hostomel Airport near Kyiv. He was there preparing for deployment. It was February 25, the day following Russia’s invasion.
He was captured by his combat group after a fierce battle. According to NBC News, he and his comrades were detained in a few places around the airport before being moved to a bomb shelter at a fire station. He said that he was detained with 34 civilians and military personnel. He said that the 70-year-old prisoner, who was taken into custody after he confessed to having military ID, was the oldest.
“Everyone was beat,” Mykhaylo said. He, like many soldiers, asked for his last name to be withheld because he intended to return to the fight after he had recovered.
He said that food was scarce after they were captured and that prisoners of war received only a spoonful each of oatmeal and a handful of water per day. He said that the Russians explained this to him at the Forest Valley rehabilitation centre on the outskirts Kyiv.
Mykahlo isn’t the only one. As part of a prisoner swap, 144 Ukrainian soldiers were freed on Wednesday — the largest ever since the beginning of the war. According to the statement made on Telegram by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (known as GUR), there have been many prisoner exchanges. Although neither side can give exact figures, it is believed that both sides captured thousands of prisoners during the four-month-old war.
Although they lost control of Hostomel Airport, which was a critical staging area for a Russian attack against Kyiv, the Ukrainian forces eventually retook it and pushed the invading troops from the region around the capital. Mykahlo claimed that he was already captured.
Mykhaylo stated that the Russians wanted to extract information. He claimed that he was held captive for two months before being released in prisoner exchange.
He said, “They wanted to know what type of weapons they had,” and referred to U.S. Stinger missiles and Javelin missiles as examples. “But we didn’t have that.”
Mykhaylo reported that the prisoners were moved to a “very cold meat storage refrigerator” before being bused to Belarus, which is a close ally to Russia, and flown to Kursk, Russia, a few days later. He said that they had spent five nights in freezing temperatures inside a tent before being transferred to a city detention facility.
He said that they took our uniforms away, beat us up and put us in cells. They also made us sing the Russian national anthem every morning.
Mykhaylo claimed that he was fortunate in many ways compared to other civilian and military prisoners who were subject to far worse punishments.
He claimed that one of his prisonmates told him “that they beat [him] on the kidneys, and they beat him in the face, everywhere else they could for an entire hour.”
He said, “When he slept he moaned all night.” “We tried to help him, but we couldn’t do anything.”
He said that others who had tattoos using Ukrainian symbols were “beaten very badly.”
Hlib Stryzhko (25 years old) was a Ukrainian marine who fought to defend Mariupol. This city suffered terrible treatment by the Russian forces just before it fell. It became a symbol for the Kremlin’s excesses.
He spoke from his Forest Valley rehabilitation center bed and said that he was protecting a building April 10th when he saw a tank shooting at him.
He said, “The uniqueness of tank shelling it that you don’t hear its coming.” “It’s instant.”
He said that the dust “blinded my eyes” and then the rubble “started to fall on me and cover.”
He claimed that he had broken his jaw and pelvis, and that he lost his sight in his left eye. He was saved by his comrades but there was no escape from Mariupol. However, he stated that the only way to save him was to be transferred to Russian custody.
Stryzhko claimed he was taunted and denied medical care. He was also given enough food to sustain him at the Russian medical facility.
“My ward neighbor had shrapnel in the bodies. He said that even though they didn’t remove them, the Russians were only rebandaging their wounds. Their limbs continued to rot.”
International law protects prisoners of war. The Geneva Conventions stipulate that prisoners of war must be treated humanely and protected from violence as well as intimidation, insults, and other forms of abuse. It is necessary to provide sufficient food, water, clothing, and medical attention for prisoners of war being evacuated.
Russia’s Defense Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment on the allegations of mistreatment and torture of captured Ukrainian soldiers.
Olena Vysotska (Ukraine’s deputy justice Minister) stated that prisoner swaps take place one to two times per month.
“We are very interested to swap such people, as we are very focused upon the saving lives of our military. Sometimes, the people swapped with are civilians because of the ongoing war in our territory,” she stated.
In late April, both Stryzhko and Mykhaylo were released.
Stryzhko claimed that he was flown to Crimea’s military airfield 18 days after being transferred to Russia. He was then crudely loaded onto a truck and taken to Zaporizhzhia, where he was under Ukrainian control.
