UKRAINE: The Horrors of Captivity

Unfortunately, Russia continues to torture and brutally mistreat Ukrainian prisoners of war. These atrocities aren't limited to captured soldiers—they also include civilians taken from their homes.

Today, I want to shed light on the story of a journalist who disappeared in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. After a year of silence, her body was found—mutilated, missing organs, and bearing clear signs of torture. What happened to Viktoriia Roschyna?

In this post, we’ll explore her case and the broader plight of thousands of Ukrainians held in captivity. Their lives are marked by relentless suffering—beatings, torture, and, in many cases, pressure to take their own lives.

 

BRAVE BUT BEATEN DOWN

Viktoriia Roshchyna was a young Ukrainian journalist who dedicated her life to uncovering the truth—even in the darkest and most dangerous corners of Russian-occupied Ukraine. She reported from deep inside enemy-held areas, documenting war crimes, human rights abuses, and the suffering of civilians. Her mission was clear: to expose the network of secret prisons where Russia detains, tortures, and breaks Ukrainian POWs and civilians alike.

In March 2022, Viktoriia was captured by Russian forces in Berdiansk. They tortured her, held her for ten days, and forced her to record a staged video praising her captors. Then they let her go. Most would have stopped. Viktoriia didn’t. She returned to her work, more determined than ever.

In August 2023, she disappeared while investigating in eastern Ukraine. It wasn’t like her to go silent. After several days with no word, her father began reaching out—first to her colleagues, then more widely—asking if anyone knew where his daughter was. No one did. For months, there was nothing but silence. Then, in April 2024, Russian authorities finally admitted they were holding her.

While in captivity, Viktoriia was shuffled between multiple detention sites before ending up in the notorious SIZO-2 prison in Taganrog, Russia. There, she was subjected to relentless torture: beatings, electric shocks, starvation. She became so emaciated that she collapsed and was sent to a hospital. She recovered briefly—but after returning to the prison, her health quickly declined again. She reportedly refused food, either from stress, protest, or both.

Despite all this, there was hope. Her friends and colleagues had fought hard for her release and managed to secure her a place in an upcoming prisoner exchange. On a monitored call with her father, Viktoriia sounded hopeful—she told him she’d be home soon.

But she never made it. Viktoriia boarded the bus meant to take her to the exchange site. She never arrived. Russian officials later claimed she died during a transfer to Moscow, offering no explanation, no details.

In February 2025, her body was finally returned to Ukraine. What came back was chilling. Viktoriia’s remains showed unmistakable signs of torture—electric burns, broken ribs—and key organs had been removed, including her brain, eyes, and part of her trachea. Her body had been mislabeled as that of an unidentified male. Everything about it suggested a calculated attempt to erase the truth of what had been done to her.

Viktoriia’s story is not an isolated case. It is one of thousands. But hers is a name we remember. She chased the truth in a war where lies are a weapon. And for that, she was silenced—with cruelty and fear.

She should have come home. Instead, she became evidence.

Viktoriia Roshchyna, captured and tortured to death by the Russians.

 

HER STORY IS NOT THE ONLY ONE

Why am I talking about her story? Because Viktoriia is just one of more than 16,000 civilians currently held in over 180 detention facilities across Russian-occupied territories and within Russia itself.

The treatment of Ukrainian prisoners—both civilians and POWs—is brutal, systematic, and in direct violation of international law. Torture is common. Prisoners are beaten, drowned as a form of torture, electrocuted, deprived of food, sleep, and medical care. They are held in inhumane conditions—often in overcrowded cells, without sunlight, basic hygiene, or legal representation.

Many are subjected to psychological abuse: threats of execution, forced confessions, mock trials, and constant intimidation. Women face an additional layer of violence, including reports of sexual assault and harassment. Men, as well experience sexual assault, but for women it's a guarantee. Prisoners are often denied communication with their families, cut off from the outside world for months, sometimes years.

Forced labor, starvation, and medical neglect are widespread. There are reports of prisoners being deliberately maimed, used as propaganda, or coerced into denouncing Ukraine. Some are pressured to take their own lives—driven to the edge by constant physical and psychological torment. In occupied regions, men are even drafted and forced to fight their own Ukrainian troops. Often, they are part of the storm troops, who are thrown at the meat grinder mercilessly. 

This is not the behavior of rogue units or individual sadists. It is part of the Russian war playbook —organized, tolerated, and in many cases directed by the Russian state. These actions are in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions, which are supposed to protect prisoners of war and civilians in conflict. Yet in Russia’s detention system, those protections simply do not exist.

This is the reality for thousands. And it is happening right now.

 

WHAT IS THE GENEVA CONVENTION? 

Let's talk about the Geneva Convention for a bit. It is a set of international treaties that establish the standards of humanitarian treatment during war. It was first adopted in 1864, and then expanded in subsequent decades. The current framework consists of four core conventions finalized in 1949, along with additional protocols. These laws are designed to protect individuals who are not or are no longer participating in hostilities. These can be wounded soldiers, shipwrecked sailors, prisoners of war, and civilians. The key principles of the Geneva Convention are the humane treatment of all detainees, the prohibition of torture and cruel treatment, and the right to medical care and communication with family members.

The Third Geneva Convention focuses on prisoners of war, making clear they must be treated with respect, protected from violence and intimidation, and kept in conditions that meet minimum standards for hygiene, food, and safety. The Fourth Convention extends similar protections to civilians, banning unlawful deportations, hostage-taking, and abuse. 

These treaties are legally binding for all countries that signed them, including Russia. Violating them is a war crime. But as we see with Ukrainian prisoners and civilians, Russia has openly ignored these rules. And this isn’t new — in every war Russia has fought or started, from centuries ago until now, the same pattern of breaking international law and mistreating prisoners has repeated itself.

CONCLUSION 

Viktoriia Roshchyna’s story is a painful reminder of what thousands of Ukrainians face every day in captivity. Her brave work to reveal the truth was met with brutal torture and death. This is not an isolated case—prisoners of war and civilians across occupied Ukraine endure systematic abuse, starvation, and violence. Despite the protections guaranteed by the Geneva Conventions, these basic human rights are being blatantly ignored.

The world cannot look away. This cruelty is part of a long history of Russia’s disregard for humanitarian law. Exposing these crimes is crucial—not only to honor Viktoriia but to demand justice for all who suffer. Every voice that raises awareness helps fight for accountability and ensures that the pain and sacrifice of those imprisoned are not forgotten.

References: 

• KHPG - Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna died after savage torture and extreme emaciation in Russian captivity
• The Guardian  - ‘Numerous signs of torture’: a Ukrainian journalist’s detention and death in Russian prison
• The Guardian  - Inside Taganrog: beatings, electrocution and starvation at prison where Ukrainians were tortured
• KHPG - Russia opens third prison in occupied Crimea to hold political prisoners and civilian hostages abducted from mainland Ukraine
• UN - The Geneva Conventions