What's next for Ukrainians returning from Russia prisons?

When Yuriy Hulchuk returned to Ukraine after two and a half years of Russian captivity, he seemed strangely emotionless. A video on social media shows his mother hugging him upon his return, but he doesn't react. Days later, he spoke about the torture he suffered while a prisoner of war.

Hulchuk, 23, was born and raised in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. He studied foreign languages ​​and although he didn't graduate, he was an exchange student in Hungary and Germany and also traveled throughout Europe and China.

When he couldn't find any work, he enlisted in the Ukrainian army in December 2021 to make ends meet. That's how Hulchuk ended up in the 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian Marine Corps, fighting in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol when the full-scale Russian invasion of his country began in 2022. 

In April 2022, Hulchuk was captured by Russian forces and spent the next two and a half years in prison, including in the village of Olenivka in Donetsk, in the Russian-occupied part of eastern Ukraine. 

The Olenivka prison colony has been described as a "concentration camp" because of the conditions there. In July 2022, over 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Olenivka were killed in an explosion that ripped through the barracks. Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for the incident.  An analysis by the United Nations found Russia was likely at fault.

Hulchuk was also held in western Russia in Ryazan, as well as in Mordovia, a Russian republic. He returned home in September 2024 a prisoner exchange,

Systematic torture in Russian custody

Another Ukrainian man, Vlad Zadorin, 26, has also spoken of systematic torture in Russian prisons. Zadorin joined the Ukrainian military in 2019 and served in the 35th Brigade of the Ukrainian Marine Corps. At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion he was stationed on Snake Island in the Black Sea, where he was captured by the Russian navy. Almost two years later, in January 2024, he too returned home as part of a prisoner exchange.

Despite both men reporting similar experiences, today Zadorin and Hulchuk have very different attitudes towards those who tormented them.

"I've been advised to publish the full name and address of the employee of the secret IK-10 [Russian prisons are numbered and start with IK] camp in Mordovia," Hulchuk said. "He's a medic there, a cruel man who likes to use electric shocks. There are guys there not afraid of beating you, with hands, feet, a pipe or a wet rag."

Hulchuk said dogs were also used to torture prisoners and that electric shocks were administered to prisoners' genitals.

Still, he said he does not want to reveal the name of the man who tortured him.

"To me, what he did was just part of all the evil things that were done to me," he said. "If I were to take revenge on the Russians who treated me so badly in captivity, then I'd also have to take revenge on Ukrainians who treated me badly."

It's easier to forget and to look ahead, he said.

Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchange in June: The Russians also handed back the remains of 6,000 dead Ukrainian soldiersImage: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/AFP

Remembering war criminals

Zadorin has a different opinion.

"I hate the Russians deeply because they inflicted so much pain and humiliation on us," he said.

He dropped to almost half of his original weight of 120 kilograms (265 pounds). When he came out of prison, he weighed just 60 kilograms. "I had to eat mice, toilet paper and soap," he said.

Zadorin recounted severe physical violence in prison, like being hit over the head with bottles. "And I'm supposed to love them and consider them brothers?," he asked. "They came to kill me and my family without us ever having done anything to them."

Zadorin said he could identify every one of his torturers. "Sooner or later, everyone involved in such war crimes will be punished," he insisted. "That's already happening in some cases."

Both Hulchuk and Zadorin said they received generous payouts from the Ukrainian state to compensate them for their time in captivity. Funds were transferred to Hulchuk's parents' bank account the whole time he was in prison and he used the money to buy an apartment in Kyiv.

Yuri Hulchuk, his face painted with a traditional Ukrainian embroidery patternImage: Privat

Returned prisoners can receive a disability pension due to suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Almost every returned prisoner of war is diagnosed with it and, as Zadorin pointed out, imprisonment can now be grounds for a disability pension. He plans to get a disability certificate soon.

Hulchuk plans to take another route. "Being classified as disabled also has disadvantages," he said. "For example, it's hard to find a job — even though you get aid payments. I've never thought about taking up this option because it's important to me that I don't see myself as an invalid. I say to myself, 'I'm healthy.'"

Both Hulchuk and Zadorin said that after they returned, they were free to decide if they wanted to return to military service.

"The superiors are relaxed about it and ask if you want to resign or not," said Zadorin, who terminated his contract with the army.

"It was left up to me if I wanted to continue to serve or if I wanted to leave the armed forces," Hulchuk confirmed. "I decided to leave because I've served enough. It was the only real option for me. And as far as I know, a lot of the returned prisoners leave the army too. Only a few stay in."

Looking to the future

Since he departed from the military, Hulchuk hasn't had a fixed job. He works part-time as an English teacher. He is also learning German, taking singing lessons and going to the gym.

"I just want to live quietly this year, to recover physically and mentally," he said. "Then I want to go to Germany, study there and find a job."

"You don't want unmotivated men on the front lines — they'll get killed themselves and will cause those around them to be killed," Zadorin explained. "That's dangerous."

Zadorin said he sees himself as working on a digital front line these days.

After the end of his military contract, he settled in Odesa and now works for Break The Fake, an organization that fights Russian disinformation. Zadorin also regularly discusses his experiences in the media and at events around Europe.

Vlad Zadorin now works for an organization called Break The Fake, which tries to counter Russian disinformationImage: privat

He said  Russian authorities don't accurately classify all the Ukrainians they capture as prisoners of war. Some Ukrainian soldiers are listed as killed or missing in action. Zadorin said he believes there are more Ukrainians held in Russian prisons than publicly stated numbers would suggest.

There are over 250 locations in Russia where they're being held, Zadorin said, adding that he was in seven himself. 

"Some have conditions that are normal prison conditions, where detainees are beaten less and possibly get enough to eat, " he recounted, adding that the conditions at each site also determine whether a Ukrainian prisoner returns home as a "normal person." 

This story was originally published in Russian.