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Ukrainian Female POWs TORTURED, Paraded Naked Through The Snow
Ukrainian Female POWs TORTURED and Raped, Paraded Naked Through The Snow by Russian Troops
Threat of Death Was Always There
Four women tell The Telegraph about the campaign of abuse they were subjected to in captivity
The Telegraph 22 FEB 2025
Electrical Cords, Metal Pipes: In Kherson, Signs of Torture Emerge
Valentyna Zubko, a 30-year-old military medic, was captured at the Illich Steel Plant during the siege of Mariupol
Ukrainian women taken as prisoners of war are being tortured and humiliated by Russian soldiers in a systematic campaign of abuse, survivors have revealed.
Some have been subjected to cruel degradations, including being forced to march naked in the snow and expose themselves to their captors.
The Telegraph tracked down four women who agreed to speak out about the months and, in some cases, years they spent in captivity. Their testimonies reveal the brutality with which Moscows forces treat the Ukrainians they have captured, providing evidence of what are almost certainly war crimes.
'''They led us to the showers with bags over our heads, where we were forced to undress. We had to walk naked in front of the men and everyone else, bent over, through freezing cold water, said Larysa Kycherenko, 53, who served in Ukraines National Guard.
Afterwards, we were forced to sing the Russian anthem while naked. We returned to the cells in tears, utterly distraught, crying and in a state of hysteria? It was inhumane. To them, we were nothing.'''
If its hard for men, its even harder for women many of the women werent fighters, she said.
Ms Kycherenko, her husband and her 34-year-old son were captured in occupied Mariupol in 2022 after they were betrayed by their neighbours.
The three were separated, with Ms Kycherenko spending seven months in captivity, first in a makeshift prison near Donetsk, then Olinevka prison, then a pre-trial detention centre.
During her ordeal, Ms Kycherenko was forced to stand for over 12 hours a day, beaten, and psychologically tortured in an apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions.
She described being slammed against the wall by a guard and beaten with a metal pole, and then being denied medical treatment for the open wound it left on her leg.
We were constantly being told we were fascists, and that if we weren?t shot by our own people during an exchange, someone else would kill us. The threat of death was always there.
Since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, it has been repeatedly accused of mistreating prisoners of war and Ukrainian civilians. At least 48 detention centres have been identified by the United Nations, while Ukraines Prosecutor General reported that at least nine out of ten POWs returned to the country suffered physical and psychological torture.
I was prepared for the possibility that I might die. I had come to terms with it. But when I was told about captivity, that was the first time I cried, said Valentyna Zubko, a 30-year-old military medic who was captured at the Illich Steel Plant during the siege of Mariupol.
She spent five-and a half months in captivity across four different prisons. She described being crammed with fifteen others in a cell meant to house two, with only a hole in the middle of the floor as a toilet.
Each guard tried to hit us as we walked. We had our heads down and they would force us down even lower. We were beaten badly and the guards seemed to enjoy it. There was no reason they would just beat us for fun.
Ms Zubko and her fellow prisoners were fed porridge mixed with water, which she said was barely enough to survive. We were like skeletons, she said.
Ms Zubko and several women The Telegraph spoke to reported being given electric shocks by cattle prods and power cables during the repeated interrogations. During interrogations, if I answered in a way they didnt like, they would electrocute me, said Snizhana Vasylivna Ostapenko, 23, a junior sergeant of the 56th Separate Mechanised Brigade who fought in the battles for Mariupol and the Azovstal steel plant.
Russian servicemen inspect an area of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol
Bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were placed in plastic bags inside a tunnel at the Illich Steel Plant
Horrifying footage appears to show Russian captors castrating a Ukrainian prisoner of war
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