Silence—as a form of torture

In 2025, against the backdrop of negotiations in Istanbul, the processes of returning prisoners of war within the framework of exchanges between Ukraine and the Russian Federation significantly intensified. At the same time, after each new exchange, new evidence of torture, inhuman conditions of detention, and total violation of human rights against Ukrainian prisoners of war was discovered. Beatings, electric shocks, and coercion to give false testimony have been known since 2014, but those released in 2025 unexpectedly call the information vacuum one of the main problems in captivity.

I attended several exchanges in 2025 and spoke with more than a dozen Ukrainian defenders who had returned from captivity. They told me exactly how and why Russia is trying to deprive prisoners of access to any information and impose hostile narratives.

For security reasons, in particular for those soldiers who are still in captivity, some names may have been changed in the creation of this material.

“Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv—long occupied by Russia”

One of the exchanges took place in the northern region of Ukraine. Roman, a Territorial Defense soldier who was captured in March 2022 and was released after three years of captivity, even standing near one of the state institutions, cannot fully believe where he is. In captivity, during interrogations and general “communication” with employees of Russian prisons and special services, the man was convinced that all the northern and northeastern regions of Ukraine were occupied as early as 2022. “The first year was the hardest. Information usually comes during some kind of movement, contact with other convicts or prisoners. You can hear or find out something somewhere. The first year, we were not moved at all; we were not even taken around the territory of the pre-trial detention center, only to the interrogation cell. There, they told us different things. I don’t think they had studied the instructions, because the pieces of information they reported to us contradicted each other. Someone said that the war was already over, and supposedly only parts of Ukraine remained, such as Lviv and Ternopil. Only Western Ukraine. Someone said otherwise, but the key meaning was that there was no struggle, Ukraine surrendered, Russia either had already captured or was about to capture everything it needed,” says Roman.

Roman and his cellmates, also Ukrainian servicemen, did not believe the words of the investigators and prison guards, but they did not know how far these words were from reality. Later, Roman was transferred to another penitentiary institution in the depths of Russia. During the harsh stage, no additional information was available, but in the colony where the prisoner was held, a radio could be heard from the corridor in the new cell. This is how the man learned that the war and the resistance in Ukraine were at least continuing.

“In general, during the captivity, all the Russians who contacted us said that no one needed us, that they considered us traitors, that Ukraine did not want to take us out of captivity. Russia is supposedly ready to return us even tomorrow, but Ukraine refuses. My brother was told during interrogation that his mother was allegedly arrested, as the investigator said, ‘under Zelensky’s new law’ as the mother of a traitor. That a new law was supposedly issued, according to which relatives of those who were captured will be arrested,” the man recalls.

Similar information about the spread of the “betrayal by the motherland” narrative was confirmed by almost all former prisoners with whom we managed to communicate after their release. According to the interviewed fighters, the Russians’ goal was to demoralize the Ukrainian military. During such interrogations or conversations, Ukrainians were offered to give false testimony, record a video of “repentance” in which they would talk about the fictional “crimes of the Ukrainian army”. In exchange, investigators or prison guards promised improved detention conditions and even potential release and continued life in Russia.

“Beating is not as scary as the lack of information”

Konstantyn, a fighter from one of the assault units, was released from captivity in May 2025. He spent one year and three months in captivity. In the first minutes after Kostantyn returned to his native land, he learned that his father had died during captivity. Sitting on the grass near the assembly point, where released Ukrainian prisoners undergo their first registration, receive clothes, and undergo a medical examination, Kostantyn looks at photos of other prisoners. The photos are given to him by relatives who are looking for their loved ones. Konstantin recognizes one of the men who is missing in action from a photo. The man is being searched for by his sister, who has not heard from her for a long time. Konstantin became the first to tell her in detail about his brother’s fate: he is alive, without serious injuries. He is in captivity, although the Russian side does not officially confirm this.

In general, each exchange brings together dozens of relatives of the missing and prisoners of war, for the opportunity to talk for at least a minute with Ukrainians released from captivity. People bring photos of their loved ones. Very often, information from those released is the only thing that can be learned. According to observations, the absolute majority of those who come to such meetings are relatives of the missing. Some have official confirmation that their loved one is in captivity.

As of early May, the Register of Missing Persons under Special Circumstances included over 70,000 people. About 10 thousand of them had confirmation that they were in captivity. This includes both official confirmation from the International Committee of the Red Cross and unofficial channels, as specified by the ZMINA human rights center.

International humanitarian law obliges countries to report on the capture of military personnel and each individual case. Moreover, the country that captured a soldier has an obligation to give him the opportunity to inform his relatives. “Immediately upon capture, or not more than one week after arrival at a camp, even if it is a transit camp, likewise in case of sickness or transfer to hospital or another camp, every prisoner of war shall be enabled to write direct to his family, on the one hand, and to the Central Prisoners of War Agency..., on the other hand, a card similar, if possible, to the model annexed to the present Convention, informing his relatives of his capture, address and state of health. The said cards shall be forwarded as rapidly as possible and may not be delayed in any manner,” states Article 70 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

This rule is not only violated but in fact is not observed at all by the Russian side. I was unable to find a single prisoner who had used this option or even heard of someone using it. All the released prisoners interviewed unequivocally said that they had never been given such an opportunity.

“The worst thing is that there is no information. The fact that we are ***** [systematically beaten], and there are no normal conditions, no food—all this is not so scary. Two months ago [before the day of release], I was almost killed by Russian special forces. During a conversation with an investigator, I said that I had a bad attitude towards Russians. Special forces came to me at night and beat me until the morning. For a year, I walked like this [shows a pose with a head tilted down and hands raised behind the back]. But this is all nonsense. The worst thing is the lack of information, the lack of contact with my family, and the lack of understanding at all about what is happening to you, how long you will be here,” says Konstantin.

The man also confirms that the Russians have been arguing the central thesis all along: that his enemies are not Russians or the Russian authorities, but “the authorities in Kyiv.” Konstantin says that he did not believe a word of it, and sometimes even entered into discussions with the jailers, for which he was later beaten.

Another released prisoner, who asked not to be named, recalled that during the transfer for the exchange, at the moment when the released prisoners were being loaded onto a bus on the Russian side, an unknown Russian soldier “in a friendly way” advised the prisoners to escape after crossing the border, because, according to him, “in Ukraine, either prison or a return to the front awaits the released.”

This is also a Russian lie. Ukrainian servicemen released from captivity have the right to resign from service. This is provided for in Art. 26 of the Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service”. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, clarified that the relevant norm applies to all servicemen who have the status of those released from captivity, regardless of the date of exchange. In addition, if a soldier decides to exercise the right to release after returning from captivity, they can count on one-time financial assistance, which is 50 percent of the monthly cash allowance for each full calendar year of service.

Where is the right, and where is the privilege. What does international humanitarian law say about correspondence and informing prisoners

Many people mistakenly believe that depriving prisoners of information is justified and, supposedly, does not violate any requirements of international law because we are talking about military personnel of an enemy country. However, the right to exchange information, in particular correspondence, is not a privilege but an obligatory right.

The Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, in particular Article 71 of this document, guarantees prisoners the right to correspond with their loved ones.

“Prisoners of war shall be allowed to send and receive letters and cards. If the Detaining Power deems it necessary to limit the number of letters and cards sent by each prisoner of war, the said number shall not be less than two letters and four cards monthly, exclusive of the capture cards.”

A separate issue is the Russians’ denial of access to Ukrainian prisoners of war by representatives of the International Red Cross. This also hinders both monitoring compliance with international obligations in matters of the rights of prisoners of war and the exchange of information between prisoners and the “outside world”.