More than 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war killed in Russian captivity
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- Alona Kokhanchuk
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12:43, 27 May, 2025
More than 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war died in Russian captivity, photo: sich-pravo.orgAs of May 2025, at least 206 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been killed in Russian captivity since the start of the full-scale invasion.
This was reported by the Associated Press agency, citing UN representatives, human rights activists, Ukrainian authorities and forensic experts.
According to Ukrainian officials, the regular transfer of bodies with signs of torture, exhaustion and lack of medical care indicates that prisoners have been ill-treated. Often, the bodies are received in a highly decomposed state or with hidden injuries, making it difficult to determine the cause of death. In some cases, internal organs are missing.
UN reports indicate that 95 per cent of the released Ukrainian soldiers were subjected to systematic torture: beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence, mock executions, and sleep deprivation. Amnesty International also confirms the facts of massive abuse and lack of access to prisoners for human rights defenders.
The publication writes that Ukraine is preparing lawsuits to the International Criminal Court regarding Russia's ill-treatment of prisoners, based on the testimony of released soldiers and the results of forensic examinations.
Death of journalist Viktoria Roshchina
Viktoriia Roshchyna worked for «Ukrainian Radio», «UA:Pershyi», «hromadske», as well as for «Ukrayinska Pravda», «Novosti Donbasu», «Censor.net» and «Radio Liberty». In 2022, she received the International Women's Media Foundation's «Award for Courage in Journalism».
As a reminder, Victoria Roshchyna has been at the front since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. On 16 March 2022, it became known that she had been detained by representatives of the Russian federal security service while she was in occupied Berdiansk. On 22 March, the Russian military released her from captivity, forcing her to record a video in which she refuted all claims against the Russian special services.
Subsequently, on 27 July 2023, Roshchyna left Ukraine for Poland and was supposed to reach the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine (via Russia), from where she was working on a report. Viktoriia Roshchyna stopped contacting her family on 3 August 2023. Later it became known that the Ukrainian journalist had died in Russian custody.
On 24 April 2025, it became known that Viktoriia Roshchyna's body had been returned to Ukraine.
Prisoner exchange in the format «1000 for 1000»
During negotiations in Turkey on 16 May, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreed to conduct a large-scale exchange of prisoners in the format of «1000 for 1000».
As a reminder, on Friday, as part of the first stage of the exchange, Ukraine returned 390 people - 270 military and 120 civilians. After that, on 24 May, another 307 servicemen returned to Ukraine as part of the second stage of the exchange.
On Sunday, 25 May, the third stage of the exchange was completed. Another 303 Ukrainian defenders were returned home.