A Ukrainian national guardsman lost 40 kilograms after spending more than a thousand days in captivity as a prisoner of war in Russia. Ivan Petrovsky, 30, was held by Vladimir Putin’s invading forces in May 2022 whilst defending Mariupol.
He was recently swapped in an exchange of POWs and posted haunting before and after pictures showing the extent of his suffering in almost three years in Russian hellhole camps. “I’m home. The difference is 1,037 days of captivity and minus 40kg” he wrote. His wife Kristina Petrovska and two daughters were waiting for him when he returned.
Ukraine has accused Russia of keeping POWs in inhumane conditions and inflicting torture and medical neglect on captives. Hundreds of deaths are feared from poor treatment of those detained in battle.
In some camps, the starvation food rations comprise three spoons of porridge, half a cup of tea, and two thin slices of bread per day—and limited access to water. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, said: “This category—severely wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war—requires immediate repatriation. We know that Russian forces deny medical assistance to Ukrainian POWs. Tragically, many of our soldiers die as a direct result of this neglect.”
Former Ukrainian captives have already reported being subjected to torture, frequent beatings and electric shocks whilst being held at a detention centre in south-western Russia. Ex-detainees said they suffered physical and psychological abuse by Russian officers and guards at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility Number Two, in the city of Taganrog, the BBC reports.
It comes after disturbing footage also surfaced showing the inside of a Russian “gulag” where disabled and elderly troops were allegedly being “chained up like slaves” before being sent off to the frontline in Ukraine. The hellish military camp is reportedly packed with 1,000-plus men and located in the Yurga, Kemerovo region of Siberia.
The location has seen thousands of troops processed before being sent to fight, despite being located some 2,200 miles from the conflict zone in Ukraine. Many are thought to be those who had previously refused to serve, or had sustained injuries earlier in the war.
One source told the ASTRA independent media outlet that those held in the camp included people “without fingers”, elderly men, and soldiers “on crutches”, who are being kept in appalling conditions and regularly beaten.
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