A Ukrainian soldier's time in a Russian POW camp

DW (English)

The United Nations has said Ukrainian soldiers are routinely subjected to torture in Russian captivity. DW's Sonia Phalnikar spoke with a former prisoner of war, recently released in a prisoner swap, about his ordeal.

Transcript

00:00Volodymyr Shevchenko is slowly rebuilding what Russian captivity took from him.

00:09This strengthens the muscles. They're in this state because they were completely wasted.

00:14We could not move at all in prison. Now I have to start with light exercises.

00:20He spent more than two years in Russian jails as a prisoner of war.

00:26It's not just his body that needs to recover.

00:30There is a button here. It triggers me. It makes a very sharp sound.

00:34It has a really strong impact on me.

00:38The first time I heard this sound, it reminded me of Mariupol in 2022.

00:45That's the southern port city where Volodymyr's National Guard unit was sent shortly before Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

00:58Just 20 at the time, he helped defend the famous Azovstal steel plant.

01:04After a long siege, he was among thousands told by commanders to surrender.

01:09The Russians held them 16 to a cell.

01:14They beat us every day for standing up together or moving around.

01:19They called the beatings re-education.

01:21They said, this is so that you don't want to fight anymore and you don't know what you're fighting for.

01:26When they came to interrogate us, they used a military phone that produces a current.

01:32They screwed it to our legs and asked questions.

01:35We had to sit on a chair. A pillowcase was put on our heads.

01:39We always fell from that chair because there was an electric shock.

01:43I couldn't control myself.

01:47Volodymyr lost three teeth in the beatings.

01:51But the worst, he says, was food deprivation.

01:54He lost more than 20 kilos.

01:57We weren't allowed to share food. They did that on purpose.

02:01There were 16 of us and they'd give us 10 pieces of bread.

02:05We were punished if we shared.

02:07They wanted to make us fight amongst ourselves by not giving us enough food.

02:11We all used to sweep up the crumbs.

02:15Volodymyr says living with fellow Ukrainians kept him sane.

02:20Among us were construction workers. There were some car enthusiasts.

02:24We thought of some topic and talked every day.

02:27I said, guys, don't close yourself off.

02:31After more than a year, they suddenly received a few books.

02:36There was Mark Twain. There was Jack London among the authors.

02:41I really liked Dumas.

02:44I got up every morning and read a book till after lunch.

02:52June 25th this year, he finally got back to Ukraine as part of a prisoner swap.

02:58A huge relief. But reintegrating has been challenging.

03:03I didn't know what to talk about with my parents, relatives, you know.

03:08My father is still fighting at the front. I was very happy to see him.

03:13I didn't know how to wash, brush my teeth, wash my hair.

03:17Everything kept falling out of my hands. How to make a bed.

03:21It was very difficult for me. We were used to doing everything so quickly.

03:25If we did it slowly, we would be beaten, you see.

03:30Ukrainians haven't forgotten those still being held prisoner.

03:35Volodymyr joins families waiting for their loved ones from the Azov battalion,

03:40also instructed to surrender in Mariupol.

03:44The Azov fighters are heroes in Ukraine, but hated in Russia

03:49and rarely included in prisoner swaps.

03:52Every exchange, when it happens without my son, I fall.

03:57My heart really sinks because I always expect that he'll be there.

04:02But he's not.

04:06The aim of these free Azov demonstrations is to send a message to the top,

04:11to the political authorities,

04:13so that they somehow force the processes of releasing prisoners of war.

04:19There's hope as well.

04:21Volodymyr visited a friend he was in Mariupol with

04:25and was also a prisoner of war.

04:27He's just been released.

04:29He's really thin. I said, you'll get better. Everything will be fine.

04:34Volodymyr says he wants to document everything that he's been through

04:39and become a blogger.

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