Conflicts

Ukrainian soldiers who can taste freedom again recount the nightmare they went through in Russian prisons. Locked between four walls, forced to stand all day, beaten and humiliated. 


Since the start of the conflict, 1,300 of them have been released by Russia. Some of them have testified before the French news medium France Info. 

Dmitro, 26, says he was locked up in a prison in southern Russia: ‘This prison was dilapidated. Three meals a day, but even children eat more than that.... And then especially being on their feet for whole days. It was forbidden to sit. You were only allowed to sit during meals, otherwise they would beat you in the morning and evening.’ Now he has suffered from varicose veins. ‘They used truncheons, tasers, attack dogs.... They questioned me twice a week. They looked up general knowledge questions on the internet. And if you didn't answer, they beat you’.



Another Ukrainian soldier, Sergui, told France Info about the humiliations he endured. ‘They humiliated us, both morally and physically. Face against the wall, legs and arms spread, blindfolded, and they asked you: ‘What does F.A.U. stand for?’ You answered in Ukrainian, Ukrainian Armed Forces, and then they slapped you on the back, shouting, ‘Speak Russian!’ They hit you very hard in the kidneys, the testicles, the legs, the back of your neck’.



Those who ended up in a Russian prison suffer a strong trauma. At night, they sometimes wake up suddenly and go into posture. By reflex, fear still creeps into a body that has been severely tested. 


(Manon Pierre - Source : Midi Libre/France Info - Illustration : Unsplash)