Mariia Klymyk on Torture, Deaths, and Abuse in Russian Captivity
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Vocal.Media
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04
Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash
Mariia Klymyk is a Ukrainian journalist, war-crimes documenter, and human rights researcher at the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR). She serves as co-head of MIHR’s Department for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Their Families, where she leads work on Ukrainian prisoners of war and missing persons. Her work includes collecting testimonies about war crimes committed by the Russian Federation, researching places of detention in occupied Ukrainian territory and Russia, and producing investigations and analytical materials on captivity and disappearances. Klymyk joined MIHR in April 2022 and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Lviv Polytechnic National University.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Mariia Klymyk on documented abuses in Russian captivity, including torture, beatings, denial of medical care, starvation conditions, blocked family contact, deaths in detention, and sham prosecutions. Klymyk argues there is no symmetry with Ukraine’s treatment of Russian POWs, which she says follows Geneva standards more closely. She also discusses the limits of international organizations, especially the Red Cross, in gaining access and enforcing humanitarian protections for captive Ukrainians in practice today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Big picture, in terms of war crimes regarding torture, deaths, systematic abuses, and being in Russian captivity as prisoners of war or civilians: what are the ones that are most substantial and most prevalent? What war crimes are most common?
Maria Klymyk: Yes, so when we speak about prisoners of war and civilian hostages, the most common is torture. The conditions of their captivity are very, very bad because they do not have medical support, and they do not have enough food.
They do not have the right to communicate with their families. If we speak about the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war have specific rights. The Russians refuse all of this, the whole Geneva Conventions. They do not follow them, and they do what they want. When we speak with people who were released from Russian captivity, we see a pattern in the conditions.
The conditions in Russian camps for prisoners are not like proper camps. They are more like jails or other improvised detention places. In occupied territories, detention facilities were not used for several years. So there is no water, no good food, and no proper conditions. There are no beds. Most prisoners of war say that, first of all, there is constant beating.
Russians refuse to provide proper medical support to prisoners. Many of them, after returning, have tuberculosis, diabetes; some of them have cancer. During all those years in captivity, most of them did not see doctors.
When they ask for medical workers, or ask for pills or treatment, they are refused. Russians refuse to give them this. Often, if you ask for medics, you receive electroshocks or another round of beatings.
So it is torture. There is death in captivity. For now, I do not know the exact number, but the last reported number was around 370 people whose bodies were returned from Russian captivity. This includes both civilians and prisoners of war.
So it is torture, bad conditions, lack of medical care, lack of food and vitamins. They do not have the opportunity to write letters. Also, the Russians refuse to allow access to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In those places of detention, most of the people who were returned from Russian captivity did not see any representative of the Red Cross, and they did not hear about them. This is the most common pattern of war crimes against both soldiers and civilians, across all abuses of rights.
Jacobsen: Are there any symmetries? In other words, crimes committed by both Russians and Ukrainians, at roughly the same rate?
Klymyk: No. If you speak with representatives of the Red Cross, they will tell you that they freely visit Russian prisoners on the Ukrainian side.
Russian prisoners in Ukraine are held in different conditions. First of all, they are not kept in improvised detention facilities. Ukraine has created special camps for them. They also have the opportunity to communicate with their relatives. They receive humanitarian aid from the Red Cross, and they have constant medical support. They have access to doctors and proper care.
Last year, there was a public discussion about humanitarian aid because the Red Cross provided Russian prisoners of war with items, including condoms. They did not explain this to the Ukrainian side, but Russian prisoners still receive aid and support. Ukraine treats them in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
But when we speak about Ukrainians on the Russian side, they do not have any rules applied to them.
Some people who were released from Russian captivity said that Russians treat them worse than animals. In Russian captivity, Ukrainians do not have rights. The conditions are not comparable to those faced by Russians in Ukraine.
There is another issue: there are many court cases against Ukrainians, both civilians and soldiers.
In Ukraine, Russian soldiers have the right to lawyers and the opportunity to defend themselves if Ukraine brings cases against them. But in Russia, many of these cases are unlawful.
Most of these cases are fabricated. People are forced to confess, including confessing to murders they did not commit. So the circumstances are very different for both sides.
It has been four years, and there are many soldiers and civilians under the age of 60 in captivity, often in very bad conditions. When Ukraine tries to return Russians who are in poor condition, the situation remains extremely difficult.
We are trying to negotiate exchanges between Russia and Ukraine. We are trying to get Russia to return to Ukraine the people who have empyema, who have tuberculosis, who have lost a great deal of weight. But Russia refuses. Still, Ukraine returns those people to Russia. So it is not comparable how Ukraine holds Russian prisoners and how Russia holds Ukrainians.
Jacobsen: This may be rhetorical to you, but it is important to have it stated explicitly: Is this the consensus view among relevant international experts at the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN, the Commission, the ICC, the OSCE, and so on, about the differences in treatment during the war?
Klymyk: They know about it. We have had many meetings with representatives from these organizations. We have had many meetings with the Red Cross, and they know this. What they say, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross, is that only they have the right and the opportunity to visit Ukrainian prisoners of war, and they also visit Russian prisoners of war, so they have a point of view on how it is happening. But almost nobody can visit Ukrainian prisoners of war.
We know about some cases when the Russians allowed visits to Ukrainian prisoners of war, but it was optional. They saw only a couple of people, and they visited only one cell. It was a short visit.
When we ask the Red Cross why this is happening, why they do not have access, why they do not do anything to change it, why they do not persuade Russians to change those conditions or do something about it, the answer is simply that Russia does not allow them to do anything. So they say, “We are trying, but it is not helping. Russia is not listening to us.”
So they only visit Russian prisoners of war. They can send letters to the Russian side, but we do not have confirmation that the Russian side delivers them to the prisoners of war.
For now, we do not have any international organization that can address those conditions. Nobody can force Russia to change how they treat Ukrainians in captivity. So it is very hard for us. We are doing everything we can. We gather all those testimonies. We gather all information about the places of detention and the deaths there. We are trying to find every person on the Russian side, but it is very hard because, for now, there are no instruments to change the communication between Ukraine and Russia, or between the Red Cross and Russia.
Jacobsen: In your opinion, which organizations are most active in documenting rights abuses in Ukraine for those who want to get involved and support this effort?
Klymyk: Actually, every organization is involved in documenting. In Ukraine, there are many NGOs. Also, the families of missing persons and prisoners of war have created their own organizations, and they also document evidence in these cases. We all gather the information. We give this information to our national government and our national institutions. We also have many meetings with diplomats, international organizations, the UN, the ICC, and all the organizations we can reach, and we give them all this information and all these documents.
We also have some events abroad. We bring victims with us; they go there and tell their stories. This information is also public, but for now, we see it is not working the way we want because it does not change the conditions or the treatment.
Since 2022, nothing has changed. Even though there are sanctions against Russians, and there are also some cases in Ukraine against Russians, for now, it is not working the way we want it to work. So we are doing everything we can, for now and for the future, gathering all this information. But the prisoners of war still live in very bad conditions. We still receive bodies from captivity. We still see people who return from Russian captivity with diseases and serious injuries.
I do not know. It is a hard question how to change all this, and who from the international community could help. But we are still trying to persuade the Red Cross to do more. Sometimes we think they are afraid to stand against the Russians.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Maria.
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