Prisoners of war
The Regional Center for Human Rights, along with its partners – the Media Initiative for Human Rights, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Yahad-In Unum, OSINT FOR UKRAINE and the Olenivka Community – filed a Submission with the International Criminal Court calling for an investigation into the mass murder and torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka.
11 December 2024
A random photo on social networks allowed Serhii Tarasiuk’s wife to find out the terrible truth about her husband who is kept in captivity. He has been held in inhumane conditions for over two years. The 58-year-old Azov Brigade soldier’s state of health is critical. According to the latest information, Serhii Tarasiuk is kept in Pretrial Detention Center No. 2 in the city of Kamyshin, Volgograd Oblast.
18 October 2024
Serhii Mykhailenko is an Azov Brigade soldier. He left the Azovstal plant together with his fellow soldiers on May 20, 2022. They were judged for crimes they had not committed. The so-called Supreme Court of the DPR sentenced Mykhailenko to life imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony. The man was sent to Siberia to serve his illegal sentence.
11 October 2024
At least 50 Ukrainian military medics are being held in Russian captivity. In addition, Russia holds many civilian doctors and nurses, subjecting them to beatings, interrogations, and baseless criminal charges.
24 September 2024
“My mornings begin with a prayer to God, asking Him to strengthen my son, protect him from evil people and torture. And that’s the last thing I think about before falling asleep,” Iryna Kozyrieva, mother of an Azov Brigade soldier, says through tears. Her son Yaroslav has been held in Russian captivity for 29 months. However, under the Geneva Conventions, he should have been exchanged two years ago.
16 September 2024
The Ukrainian Defense Forces have been assaulting a female correctional facility in Mala Loknia, Kursk region, where Ukrainian captives—women and men—have been confined for a long time. The seizure of the colony will be a crucial step for Ukraine in gathering evidence of the war crimes committed by Russia against Ukrainian prisoners of war.
23 August 2024
Yehor Kysel, an Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) veteran, defended Kherson during the early days of the full-scale invasion. After the city was occupied, he was abducted by Russians. Since then, the man’s place of detention has changed several times. We share what is happening with the veteran based on the account of his sister, Inna.
8 August 2024
July 28, 2024 is the second anniversary of the mass murder of Ukrainian soldiers of the Azov Brigade held in captivity in Olenivka. Previously the MIHR established the chronology of this crime almost minute by minute. Now we are talking about the progress made in the investigation and the persons charged by the Prosecutor’s Office with the murder.
28 July 2024
On May 16, 2022, Azov fighter Serhii Alieksieievych laid down his weapon, removed his ammunition, and, along with a hundred fellow comrades-in-arms, left the Azovstal territory. In July 2022, an explosion occurred in the colony where the Mariupol garrison was held. Around fifty people were killed and more than a hundred injured—all of them Azov fighters. Serhii Alieksieievych survived but was wounded and remains in captivity.
26 July 2024
Today, July 16, 2024, Ukrainian human rights activist Maksym Butkevych turns 47. After the start of the Russian invasion, he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and was captured in June 2022, where he has been held for over two years. Today we are publishing the full text of his speech during the cassation hearing of his case by a Russian court, recorded by one of the attendees.
16 July 2024