Hundreds of Ukrainian Civilians Detained Under Russian Control in Occupied Territories
Ive covered conflicts for twenty years now, and I’m gonna tell you something – what’s happening to Ukrainian civilians right now is as bad as anything Ive ever reported on.
According to CNN’s extensive investigation, the Ukrainian government has officially confirmed around 1,700 civilian cases, but human rights researchers estimate the real number is five to seven times higher. Some 37,000 Ukrainians – civilian adults and children, and military members – are unaccounted for according to the Ukrainian ombudsman’s office.
These arent soldiers. These are teachers. Journalists. Local officials. Humanitarian volunteers. People who refused to cooperate with occupation authorities or were suspected of having pro-Ukrainian views.
PBS reports on specific cases that show how arbitrary these detentions can be. One woman with a brain cyst was seized wearing only a sweatsuit and slippers. Her family was told she was a sniper – which is absurd given her medical condition.
The conditions being described are horrific. A UN Human Rights report documented over 900 cases of arbitrary detention, with torture and ill-treatment widespread. Former detainees describe squalid conditions: putrid drinking water, no heat or showers, beatings.
Many individuals were detained during so-called “filtration” – a process used to identify possible affiliation with Ukrainian armed forces. Some were transferred to locations as far away as Siberia, thousands of miles from their homes. The international response has included coordinated financial pressure on Russia from the U.S. and allies.
In about a quarter of documented cases, civilian detainees were deported to the Russian Federation. Often no information was disclosed to families for prolonged periods. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been denied regular access in most cases.
I tell you what – when this is all over, when historians sit down to write about this war, these civilian detentions are going to be one of the darkest chapters.
These are people’s parents. Children. Neighbors. And most of them have committed no crime except being Ukrainian.
