Since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, Russian forces have detained a large number of people. They’ve been imprisoned for months without charges while their families try to figure out what happened to them. Some have been labeled as prisoners of war despite never taking part in the conflict. Others are still in legal limbo.
According to Ukraine’s top human rights organization, they received requests involving approximately 900 individuals detained by Russia, with more than half still being held captive. According to one Ukrainian human rights official, the figure is significantly higher. He claims his office has received questions about over 20,000 “civilian hostages” detained by Russian military.
In April, men dressed in military clothes abducted Vita Hannych, 45, from her home in eastern Ukraine
Alina Kapatsyna frequently dreams about receiving a phone call from her mother. Her mother appears to her in such visions, telling her that she is on her way home.
In April, men dressed in military clothes abducted Vita Hannych, 45, from her home in eastern Ukraine. She never came back.
Hannych, who has long suffered from seizures caused by a brain cyst, is now being held in the Russian-occupied area of the Donetsk region, according to her relatives.
According to Kapatsyna, it is unclear why her mother, “a peaceful, civilian and sick person” who has never wielded a weapon, was jailed.
Hannych is one of many noncombatants detained by Russian forces in Ukraine for months after their invasion. Even if they did not participate in the fighting, some are considered prisoners of war. Others are in legal limbo, facing no criminal accusations and without being labeled POWs.
Hannych was captured by Russian forces holding the village of Volodymyrivka several weeks into the Feb. 24 assault, wearing only a sweatsuit and slippers. It is still under the sovereignty of Moscow.
Her family first expected her to return home soon. According to Kapatsyna, Russian forces were known to keep people for two or three days for “filtration” before releasing them, and Hannych had no military or law enforcement contacts.
Anna Vorosheva, who spent 100 days in the same institution as Hannych, described filthy drinking water, no heat or showers, sleeping in shifts, and hearing fresh captives screaming after being beaten.
Vorosheva, 46, said she was not told why she was taken, other than “smirks and Nazi jokes” – a reference to Russia’s erroneous assertions that its “special military operation” was a mission to “denazify” Ukraine. She further said that the personnel advised her, “Be thankful we’re not beating you.”
Donetsk authorities informed her family that she is being held in the seized city of Mariupol
Donetsk authorities designated Hannych a POW and recently informed her family that she is being held in the seized city of Mariupol. It is uncertain when, if ever, she will be released.
The Center for Civil Liberties, Ukraine’s leading human rights organization, has received requests about approximately 900 citizens taken by Russia since the war began, with more than half still detained.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ambassador, raised the figure even higher, saying Friday that his office had received enquiries about more than 20,000 “civilian hostages” held by Russia.
According to Russian lawyer Leonid Solovyov, he has received more than 100 inquiries concerning Ukrainian civilians. He stated that he was able to assist 30-40 people in confirming that the individual they were looking for was in Russian detention with no legal status – just like his client, Mykyta Shkriabin.
According to Yulia Gorbunova, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, international law bans a belligerent party from forcefully transporting a civilian to its own territory or area it controls, and doing so might be considered a war crime.
POWs can be exchanged, but there is no legal procedure for exchanging noncombatants
POWs can be exchanged, but there is no legal procedure for exchanging noncombatants, according to Gorbunova, complicating efforts to liberate civilians.
However, since the beginning of the war, Kyiv has been able to repatriate some home. On January 8, Ukraine’s presidential office chief, Andriy Yermak, stated that 132 citizens would be returned from Russian captivity in 2022.
Lubinets, the Ukrainian human rights ombudsman, met with his Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, earlier this month.