TSN channel has identified those responsible for the Olenivka terrorist attack in Donetsk Oblast, where over 53 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in an explosion staged by Russia. 

Truth behind the Russian stike 

In 2022, Russia killed 50 Ukrainian prisoners with a thermobaric weapon and, for a long time, spread the false claim that it was done by Ukrainians. Even the UN eventually acknowledged the lie, but only after years.

Experts at the TV channel have managed to identify four individuals involved in the terrorist act, three of whom were officially awarded military honors after the tragedy.

Likely initiators of the attack was Kostyantyn Popov, the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) group operating in Russian-installed illegal entitity in Donetsk Oblast. By identifying his subordinates, they were able to pinpoint three Russian soldiers.

Identified persons include:

• Captain of the internal service Andriy Vitaliyovych Havryliuk, the instructor-demolition expert of assault unit No. 1 of the OSN FSIN Russia in the Stavropol Territory;
• Lieutenant of the internal service Danylo Serhiyovych Batischyev, the instructor-demolition expert of assault unit No. 2 of the OSN FSIN Russia in the Stavropol Territory;
• Major of the internal service Volodymyr Mykhailovych Kondratenko, the instructor-demolition expert of assault unit No. 3 OSN (B) FSIN Russia in the Krasnodar Territory.

All three were mentioned in an award document dated 1 August 2022, two days after the tragedy.

TSN experts were especially drawn to their specialty as instructor-demolition experts of assault units, who for unknown reasons were present at the barracks where the Ukrainian defenders later died.

Center for Human Rights investigation: Russian forces behind the attack on “barrack 200” 

Additionally, analysts from the Center for Human Rights in Armed Conflicts has recently reconstructed the events related to the Ukrainian POWs killings in Olenivka and established possible involvement of representatives of Russian security forces.

The first to report the mass death were Russian propaganda outlets, accusing Ukraine of striking with HIMARS rocket systems.

However, the experts, having studied open sources, photo and video materials, and eyewitness testimonies, concluded that the explosion in the so-called “barrack 200” was a premeditated act.

According to their findings, the strike on the building was carried out using tube artillery, and it came from the Russian forces.

On 28 July, Ukraine marks the Day of Mourning and Remembrance of Defenders who were tortured, executed, or died in captivity, including the Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), killed in the Russian terrorist attack in Olenivka.

In 2022, Russia killed 50 Ukrainian prisoners with a thermobaric weapon and, for a long time, spread the false claim that it was done by Ukrainians. Even the UN eventually acknowledged the lie, but only after years.

Ostap Shved, call sign Ostapchyk, recalls that he left the Azovstal steel plant on 18 May 2022 after months of defending the last Mariupol’s stronghold. Then, he was taken to Olenivka prison in Donetsk Oblast. At first, conditions there were relatively normal, says, Ukrainska Pravda reports. He was placed in Barrack No. 2 with 333 Azov fighters.

“Two days before the explosion, we were told we’d be relocated so they could ‘repair’ that barrack. Then a prison official came and gave a speech, saying we had to stay there to ‘unload’ the prison,” he reveals. 

On the first day, searchlights pointed at the barracks all around it, but later, they were removed. On 28 July, someone from the administration brought in two electricians. One began attaching floodlights to the building.

“We were forced out of the barrack, while another administrator went inside. They did something near the electric switchboard and gave us lighting. Some said it was ahead of a prisoner exchange; others — that it was before a transfer to another prison,” he says. 

“The ones closest to the blast were torn apart”

That evening, they were ordered not to leave the barracks after 10 p.m. and to go to the toilet only two at a time. After dinner, another prisoner, Kosmos, and he sat outside for a while.

“I couldn’t sleep after lights-out because the hangar was made of metal sheets, it was stifling, and there were no windows. I had been lying with my head against the wall, but turned around because the feet of my comrade above me stank terribly. That move saved my life — the shrapnel hit my legs instead of my head,” Shved explains. 

Around 11 p.m., a Grad rocket launcher started firing.

Sved says, “The Russians emptied an entire rocket cassette from the industrial zone. Then came mortar strikes. It was all staged to make it look like we were being shelled by our own side.”

The first explosion went off inside the building, followed seconds later by another. There was a detonation inside. He fell from the second floor and rolled to the side. Everything was burning, and everyone was screaming.

The door was blown out, but the exit was blocked by beds and bodies — the blast had pushed the bunks together. The only window, barred with grates, was shattered, and Ukrainian prisoners began pulling the wounded out through it. He pulled several out and kept returning.

“I ran to Kosmos, shouting ‘Bodia, Bodia!’ But he didn’t respond. That was the first time I froze — he was someone close to me. I kept yelling, and then saw his head was cracked open. The black cap he slept in was soaked in blood and torn…,” Sved says. 

At that moment, someone was dragging another guy with both legs shattered. He helped and then ran back for Kosmos, but he was already gone.

“I tried to pull another half-charred guy to safety, but couldn’t manage. The ones closest to the blast were torn apart. There was a bunk bed by the exit, and the guy on the top bunk was ripped in half. His lower body was still on the bed, the upper part below, intestines connecting the two. I’ll never forget that,” the Ukrainian prisoner recalls. 

“Some were already rotting”

Other Azov soldiers dragged the wounded to the alley near the entrance. No aid was given. When they reached the fence, the Russians threw a flashbang and fired into the air. Only one Spetsnaz officer threw us a med kit. It had two Israeli bandages, one pair of scissors, and an Esmarch tourniquet. Sved cut the tourniquet in half and applied it to two fighters.

“We tore our shirts, tried to stop the bleeding while the prison chief drank coffee, smoked, and watched us die. After an hour and a half, the Russians threw us a sack of torn sheets and a few bottles of water,” he says. 

Around 5 a.m., they let in POW medics from the 555th hospital. They had a few CAT tourniquets, bandages. Some guys had already died from a lack of qualified help. Azov soldiers dragged the dead under the fence.

“One of our guys was severely wounded. His head, torso, and abdomen were penetrated, and his limbs were shredded. When I came to check if he was alive, the prison chief said: ‘Ah, this one’s dead? Good.’ And continued sipping coffee,” Sved explains the attitude of Russian guards. 

Around 7 a.m., Ukrainian prisoners said trucks were coming. They began loading the severely injured into a Kamaz truck. The trucks filled up fast, so they had to stack people on top of each other.

Russian medics were at the prison, and medical vehicles were parked there all night, but they received no help.

Shved returned to the barracks and saw no signs of an external strike. The walls had no shrapnel marks, and the roof was blown outward, not inward. The prisoners were taken to solitary confinement. The cell had 35 men, all with shrapnel wounds.

Azov soldiers were covered in blood. Some were already rotting. Shved had a hole in his leg that wouldn’t heal, and glass was stuck in his foot.

Female medics in solitary confinement arranged with guards to let the Ukrainians bathe so they could dress their wounds. On day five, some Donetsk doctors came and removed the shrapnel.

Some guys were taken for interrogation.

“When Steven Seagal came (the pro-Putin American actor), the Russians said: ‘We need lively ones.’ They picked the least wounded and guys with tattoos to parade them on camera as Nazis,” Shved says. 

Every evening, he heard other prisoners being tortured in the corridor. They didn’t touch Olenivka prisoners, as apparently, there was an order not to harm the survivors from Barrack 200. But at 4 a.m., they would hear duct tape being unrolled. The Russians used it to bind prisoners so they couldn’t scream. Then came the groans. 

“They hung me, doused me with water, electrocuted me, and threatened me with rape”

On 26 September, Shved and other Ukrainian prisoners were moved to Russia’s Taganrog.

When the Kamaz arrived at the detention center, Russians blasted loud music. A bunch of guards screamed: “You bitches, get out!”

“As we climbed out, they yanked us by the legs and beat us. It went like this: You jump from the truck, and they beat you mid-air with clubs. You fall — they beat you on the floor. The second group of guys was thrown right on top of us,” he says. 

Shved spent a year in Russian captivity.

“The day before the exchange, they took me to the torture room again. They hung me, doused me with water, electrocuted me, and threatened me with rape. One guy started slicing my ear with a blunt knife. They beat me for hours, then dragged me back and told me to clean up because I was filthy from rolling on the floor,” he recalls. 

Not even 20 minutes later, they opened the cell: “Get out.’ I thought it was back to torture, but we turned into a different corridor.”

In 2023, he arrived on Ukrainian territory. Shved recovered and returned to fight, as it was only the desire for revenge that helped him survive. He adds, “If you just stay home, you’ll lose your mind.”

He looks just like an ordinary man who shares on social media how he loves and adores his “wifey” and two kids, takes pride in his medical career and celebrates national holidays.

However, this 34-year-old Russian man has a dark secret.

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) know him as “Doctor Evil” — a medical professional who systematically shocked them witsh stun guns instead of treating their injuries. Who forced them to bark like dogs. Who refused medical care to dying prisoners.

Social media helps identify Doctor Evil

An investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, traced the identity of Doctor Evil through meticulous research, while Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project translated it into English.

Reporters obtained a list of 177 Ukrainian POWs who had been held at Colony No. 10 from Ukrainian law enforcement sources. Many of them were captured during the siege of Mariupol in 2022 and sent deep into Russia.

Mordovia is a forested region in central Russia known for its extensive network of prisons and detention centers, a legacy of the Soviet gulag system that has made it synonymous with harsh incarceration conditions.

But how do you identify someone when the doctor usually wore masks and prisoners often had bags over their heads? The investigators faced a significant challenge: identifying someone based primarily on voice and behavior, with only brief glimpses of his face.

The breakthrough came from social media. Medical services for Colony No. 10 come from one unit: Medical-Sanitary Unit No. 13. Schemes found their VKontakte [Russian version of Facebook] pages filled with photos from award ceremonies and videos of doctors singing at workplace parties, their faces clearly visible.

As soon as former POW Pavlo Afisov heard the voice in one of the video clips, he started calling reporters before they’d even finished watching, his voice shaking with recognition. “That’s him.” The voice that had haunted him for months—manic, screechy, “indescribable” as prisoners called it—was unmistakable. Another, Yulian Pylypey, cropped a photo and circled a blonde man in a white coat. “The psychopath is the one on the left.”

All fifty former prisoners who agreed to speak identified the same person: Ilya Sorokin, the man they knew as “Doctor Evil.”

“Worse than beatings”: the psychological torture that cut deepest

Prisoners described how Sorokin forced them to perform degrading acts. He made prisoners crawl across the floor and bark like dogs, according to multiple testimonies. One Ukrainian prisoner became known for his barking ability and received special attention that revealed the doctor’s psychological sadism.

“Every time someone passed by, he had to bark. God forbid he didn’t. The doctor would immediately shout: ‘You, bark!'” recalled Yulian Pylypey, who spent 171 days in the colony.

The degradation followed carefully crafted patterns designed to strip away human dignity. Prisoners were forced to mimic roosters: “Cock-a-doodle-doo, guys, cock-a-doodle-doo!” They had to answer commercial jingles like trained animals responding to cues.

“He would shout ‘Yogurt!’ and we would have to shout ‘Danone!'” said Pavlo Afisov, who endured 614 days of this treatment. “Pepsi!” would be met with “Pshhhhh!” and “Who lives under the sea?” required the response “Spongebob SquarePants!”

Why children’s cartoons and advertisements? Former prisoners realized the randomness was precisely the point and that the absurdity amplified the humiliation.

But the most psychologically devastating question came repeatedly, designed to attack their very identity: “His favorite question for all of us was, ‘Who are you?’ We had to reply, ‘Faggots,'” Afisov recalled.

This wasn’t interrogation or even punishment for specific infractions. Former prisoners described recognizing something far more disturbing—pure cruelty without purpose.

“You could see he was a psychopath,” said Nikita Pikulyk, who spent 336 days in the colony. “He got pleasure from this. Normal people, even cruel ones, usually have a reason. But with him, the cruelty was the reason.”

The psychological torture revealed a mind that found satisfaction in the systematic destruction of human dignity, making prisoners understand they were dealing with someone who tortured not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

Sorokin demanded prisoners shout “Glory to Russian medicine!” If they refused, consequences followed. “Best case, you get shocked a few times by the doctor,” said Pylypey. “In the worst cases, special forces would be called into the cell to ‘educate’ the prisoners.”

“Screaming nonsense, reciting poems or songs—to me, it was one of the most degrading things. Honestly, I would rather be hit with a baton 10 times than do that,” Pylypey shared.

Sorokin seemed to understand this. “He gets aesthetic pleasure from the fact that you stand before him on all fours, your hands raised, eyes closed, you have nothing,” Afisov testified.

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Pills replaced by electric shocks

Doctor Evil used his medical position to gain access to prisoners, then administered electric shocks instead of treatment. When prisoners requested medical help, he would order them to extend their hands through cell windows.

“Hand, bitch!” prisoners recalled him shouting. Instead of receiving pills, their outstretched hands would be shocked with a stun gun.

“Now I’ll experiment,” Pylypey remembered Sorokin saying before turning the stun gun to “maximum.”

One former POW Oleksandr Kiriienko described the pattern: “Whoever turned to him, he always carried a stun gun. Yes, the door would open, and whoever had asked for him — he’d hit them with the stun gun and say, ‘Will you ask for a pill again?’ Of course, the answer was ‘no.'”

Sorokin’s denial of medical care extended to life-threatening situations. Prisoners reported being refused basic medical supplies and pain relief for serious conditions.

One prisoner with a rotting tooth that caused “agonizing pain” was denied painkillers, according to testimony.

Another case involved Volodymyr Yykhymenko, who died at the prison. His cellmate, Valentyn Poliansky, told investigators that prisoners asked Sorokin to examine Yykhymenko’s bleeding, swollen ear before his death, but the doctor refused.

“You could absolutely never approach Dr. Evil. He didn’t treat anyone,” Afisov stated.

Deaths in Russian captivity are not rare. Four Ukrainian servicemen died at Colony No. 10—two in 2023, two in 2024. Official causes: pneumonia, exhaustion, malnutrition.

However, former prisoners provided starker details: “My cellmate died in front of me—from dystrophy. He died because his legs were badly rotting and there were heart complaints.”

Another wrote to journalists: “Through systematic torture he died before my eyes.”

Russians turn service dogs into torture tools

The colony staff found new ways to terrorize prisoners as months passed. Service dogs, meant for security, became instruments of torture—with Doctor Evil often present to watch the violence unfold.

During what should have been a routine morning inspection, guards forced prisoners to crawl out of their cells on hands and knees. At that moment, staff released a service dog without a leash or muzzle.

“The dog reacted to sharp movements, and since we were crawling, it tried to grab everyone, bite, switched from one to another. It mostly bit hands and legs,” recalled Nikita Pikulyk. “Because of this, the guys had very terrible injuries—wounds that rot and in such conditions will never heal on their own.”

The attacks followed a sadistic ritual. Pavlo Afisov described how guards would position prisoners on all fours while the dog circled them, sniffing. “The dog begins, while you stand on all fours, sniffing you—legs, butt and so on. And then the doctor just tells it the phrase: ‘Try.’ ‘Try carefully or try as you like.'”

The targeting was deliberate and cruel. “One time I felt this on myself. The dog approached, sniffed, chose a place for itself and bit my buttock,” Afisov recalled. “Someone was bitten, I heard, in the balls. Some were bitten to blood.”

Guards controlled the violence like a twisted game, giving commands that turned medical examinations into torture sessions. The psychological impact matched the physical wounds—prisoners never knew when the next “inspection” would bring teeth instead of routine checks.

“I love my wifey” – the torturer next door

So who is Ilya Sorokin, aka Doctor Evil, when he’s not torturing prisoners? Schemes found years of social media posts. A 34-year-old from Potma village. Married with two daughters. Salary: 680,000 rubles ($8600) annually by 2021.

His posts show a typical provincial Russian. Sorokin participated in May 9 military parades wearing Soviet-era uniforms, visited the Crimean Bridge shortly after its opening in 2018, and posted messages supporting Russia’s military with Z-symbolism.

Professional pride also runs through his online presence. He celebrates Medical Worker Day. Posts comedy skits with nurses. Receives awards as “best paramedic” for “conscientious fulfillment of civic duties.”

This ordinariness reflects what philosopher Hannah Arendt called “the banality of evil” in her study of Nazi official Adolf Eichmann — how perpetrators of systematic atrocities often appear as “terrifyingly normal” bureaucrats rather than obvious fanatics.

Sorokin fits perfectly. An enthusiastic joiner of committees and trade unions. Amateur performer at workplace parties. Devoted family man “I love and adore my wifey!” he writes on his Vkontake page.

Who becomes a torturer? Sometimes, just ordinary people given permission.

Sorokin denies accusations

When Schemes reporters contacted Sorokin directly, the conversation lasted only moments.

“Ukrainian servicemen returning from captivity in Russia, who were held at Penal Colony No. 10, identify you as the person who tortured and beat them,” the journalist stated.

“That can’t be true. I don’t work there,” Sorokin replied before hanging up. He blocked the number after two additional contact attempts.

The Federal Penitentiary Service and Colony No. 10 administration did not respond to requests for comment.

Orders from above: systematic cruelty in Russian prisons

The reporters found that the abuse at Colony No. 10 was not the result of individual initiative but part of coordinated policy. Former prisoners reported that guards explicitly stated they were following orders.

“This is all from their initiative. The ‘guards’ said this repeatedly. Like, we didn’t invent the regime. But it’s an instruction,” one prisoner testified.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal also reported that elite prison guards received orders that “normal rules” would not apply to Ukrainian prisoners of war, with these guards then circulated to prisons across Russia.

Russian prisons were known for harsh conditions and abuse of their own citizens even before 2022. However, the systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war represents an escalation of these practices under official sanction.

As prisoner rights advocate Olga Romanova noted, prison doctors in Russia become “Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (FSIN) staff first, and doctors second,” reporting to military rather than medical leadership. This structure enabled medical professionals like Sorokin to abandon their healing mission in favor of systematic torture.

The case of “Doctor Evil” demonstrates how ordinary individuals can become instruments of state-sponsored war crimes when institutional structures provide both permission and protection for such behavior.

Not surprisingly, Sorokin recently joined the Russian army as a company medical instructor. His call sign? “Doctor.” Without the “evil” part.

However, his old job waits for him when the war ends.

How many more “ordinary” people are committing war crimes while planning their return to normal life? The investigation into Colony No. 10 suggests this case isn’t unique—it’s systematic.

Healing after hell: Ukraine opens mental facility for torture survivors

The scale of documented abuse led Ukraine to establish its first mental health facility dedicated specifically to released POWs and torture survivors.

The Saint Leo the Great Mental Health Center opened in Lviv on 24 June, designed to serve approximately 1,000 patients annually. The facility includes 30 beds, individual and group therapy spaces, and art therapy workshops. Patient rooms resemble residential spaces rather than hospital environments—a deliberate choice for people who’ve endured institutional abuse.

The center targets individuals returning from captivity, those recovering from losses, and people managing trauma from wartime experiences. For survivors like those from Colony No. 10, healing means confronting not just physical wounds but the systematic degradation designed to destroy their humanity.

Some carry permanent reminders. Others, like the former prisoners who spoke to Schemes, work to expose their tormentors. All face the long process of rebuilding their psychological health after systematic efforts to break their spirits.

Schemy, a project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has identified a Russian prison medic responsible for crimes against Ukrainian soldiers held at Penal Colony No. 10 in Mordovia. His cruelty was so extreme that Ukrainian prisoners nicknamed him “Dr. Evil.”

Journalists have gathered testimonies from more than 150 former captives who recognized “Dr. Evil” in photos and videos. He turned out to be 34-year-old Illia Sorokin, a father of two and employee at Medical Unit No. 13 of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSVP). He had previously listed his workplace publicly on social media, visited occupied Crimea, and participated in 9 May parades wearing Soviet uniforms with a St. George ribbon.

Pavlo Afisov, a Ukrainian marine from the 36th Brigade, said that Sorokin used a stun gun, forced Ukrainian prisoners to crawl, jump, and sing Russian songs.

“He derived aesthetic pleasure from seeing you bent over in front of him, hands raised, with nothing on you, eyes closed. Yet he would kick you between the legs, hit you in the gut, strike your liver, beat you with a rubber baton and a stun gun. He even said that people like us deserve genocide,” the soldier recalled. 

Another soldier, Oleksandr Savov, confirmed the abuse and the denial of medical care. Sorokin was approached concerning the mental health of Ukrainian prisoner, Volodymyr Yukhymenko, who was brutally beaten and later died. A Ukrainian forensic examination found multiple fractures, hemorrhages, and pneumonia.

Despite Sorokin’s denials of responsibility, Tetiana Zhuravliova, a personnel officer at Medical Unit No. 13, confirmed his involvement. She said that Sorokin is currently serving in the Russian army, using the callsign “Doctor” and collecting supplies, equipment, medicine, and camouflage nets for his unit.

Less than a month after his release from Russian captivity, 57-year-old soldier Valery Zelensky died of injuries sustained under torture, Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne reported on July 6.

Zelensky had spent 39 months in Russian captivity. He was released as part of the landmark 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner deal on May 25. Just 22 days later, on June 16, his heart stopped.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, his unit delivered weapons to Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, his daughter, Valeria Zelenka, said.

"When the offensive began, they were told that volunteers were needed to go on the assault. Out of 40 (people), eight said, 'We're going.' My father was one of them," she added.

The family did not immediately find out that he had been taken prisoner for some time, and he was considered missing in action. During his years in captivity, Zelensky's family received only one letter. He had long appeared on prisoner exchange lists but did not return until this year.

"The torture was not just cruel, it was inhuman. But he endured it," his daughter told Suspilne.

"He told me, 'Daughter, I endured it because of Kyokushin (a style of karate). I have discipline, I'm tough. My body and muscles protected me.'"

Valeria said her father had been overjoyed to come home and meet his grandson for the first time. He also expressed a desire to learn Ukrainian after years of speaking Russian.

Doctors initially treated him for suspected pancreatic issues, but his condition quickly deteriorated. During surgery, they discovered his organs were severely damaged. He died in intensive care days later.

"My father told me, 'Three people died among us from torture. And when I was in a very bad state, I asked God: Please let me see the eyes of my beloved,'" his daughter said.

A medical report listed extensive injuries. He had a non-functioning shoulder and arm and showed signs of multiple organ failures.

"The first feeling is inexhaustible pain that your loved one is no longer here. He was simply tortured," Valeria said. "And there is relief that he no longer feels that torture."

Zelensky's return was part of a wider prisoner exchange agreed during a first round of direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul.

The case is the latest in a number of Ukrainian soldiers' deaths after their return from Russian captivity, highlighting the effects of "widespread and systematic" torture of prisoners of war (POWs) in Russian prisons, reported by the U.N.

Serhii Dobrovolskyi, a Ukrainian soldier who had been in Russian captivity since 2023, died just a month after his release at the end of May as part of a 1000-for-1000 prisoner swap, an official from the soldier's home region announced on June 21.

In 2023, a high-ranking officer from the "Azov" brigade, Oleh Mudrak, died at 35 years old, months after his release from Russian captivity.

As a POW, he survived the Olenivka camp explosion and endured a dramatic weight loss in just 100 days, as seen in the photos published by Stanislav Aseyev, a Ukrainian writer and activist.

Dmytro Shapovalov, a 32-year-old defender of Ukraine who was exchanged in 2023 after over a year in Russian prisons, died on June 9, according to Suspilne.

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) held in Russian captivity often face torture, abuse, and inhumane treatment, according to Ukrainian officials and human rights groups.

Many former POWs have reported beatings, starvation, and psychological pressure.

The exact number of Ukrainians currently held by Russia remains unknown. Kyiv continues to call for a full all-for-all exchange. Moscow has repeatedly rejected the offer.

‘Beyond cynical’ – Russian doctor carved ‘Glory to Russia’ scar on POW during operation, Ukraine says

After more than three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion, each new revelation of cruel treatment of Ukrainians in Russian captivity hardly surprises anyone. But when a photo recently emerged online, showing a “Glory to Russia” scar on the body of a Ukrainian prisoner of war (POW), it sent shockwaves

The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko

Ukrainian prosecutors have documented cases of Russian forces summarily executing 273 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), the Liga.net news outlet reported, citing a statement from the Prosecutor General's Office.

Kyiv and the U.N. have raised alarm over the rising number of such cases, saying they point to a systematic policy by Russia to murder Ukrainian captives. Half of the document cases were recorded this year alone.

Seventy-seven criminal cases have been launched in connection with the killings of POWs, while only two people were convicted, and a trial against a third person is ongoing. The statement did not clarify whether the convictions were issued in absentia.

A total of 188 people have been convicted of various war crimes, including 18 captured Russian soldiers and one civilian, who were convicted in person. The rest were convicted in absentia.

Earlier this week, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported a case of the likely murder of a Ukrainian POW who was apparently tied to a motorcycle by Russian soldiers and dragged along the road.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) said in May that it alone had documented more than 150 cases of Ukrainian soldiers being executed after surrendering to Russian forces. Multiple intelligence reports suggest that Russian soldiers have received explicit orders to kill prisoners of war.

The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine confirmed in March growing numbers of incidents in which Russian forces killed or maimed surrendering Ukrainian troops.

A separate Ukrainian investigation is also underway into the killing of around 50 Ukrainian POWs in the Russian-run Olenivka prison in 2022. Kyiv blamed the killings on Russia, saying Moscow's forces deliberately put Azov fighters in a separate building that was later destroyed.

Russia denied responsibility, claiming the explosion was caused by a Ukrainian HIMARS strike—a version U.N. investigators have rejected.

Although Moscow blocked an independent investigation by denying U.N. monitors access, Lubinets recently said that an internal U.N. analysis concluded Russia was to blame.

China unveils its new ‘graphite bomb’ — here’s how they work

China’s state TV broadcaster has revealed details of a new “graphite bomb” that can cause a “complete loss of electricity” across an area of 10,000 square meters, or knock out entire power stations, the South China Morning Post reported on June 29. An animated video released by China’s CCTV showed a missile being launched from a ground-based launcher and then flying to a target where it releases 90 small submunitions. They then bounce on the ground before exploding amid a mock-up of an electri

The Kyiv IndependentChris York

A Russian military court has convicted 184 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) captured in Kursk Oblast of acts of terrorism, Mediazona reported on June 25.

Ukraine first launched a surprise offensive into Russia's Kursk Oblast in August 2024. Ukrainian officials have said the incursion forced Russia to move resources away from its offensives in Eastern Ukraine.

Russia's military prosecutors office convicts Ukrainian POWs captured in Kursk Oblast on a regular basis, independent Russian outlet Mediazona reported.

The POWs captured in Kursk were charged with carrying out a grave terrorist act by a group of individuals, as outlined by the Russian Criminal Code.

Junior Lieutenant Yevhen Hoch was convicted of allegedly carrying out an act of terrorism by taking part in Ukraine's Kursk Oblast incursion.

Russia has waged its war against Ukraine since 2014 and initiated a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russian authorities accused Hoch of interfering with civilian evacuations for three weeks amid Ukraine's Kursk offensive and for "intimidating them by openly carrying and using combat weapons."

Russia regularly convicts people of politically motivated charges in an effort to silence opposition to its war against Ukraine.

The Russian 2nd Western District Military Court has carried out the sentences against the 184 Ukrainian POWs since the beginning of the year.

Moscow has gone after journalists in Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Ukrainian Journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 and died after being tortured in Russian captivity. Roschyna's body was returned to Ukraine in February with missing organs.

Putin insists the Russian economy is fine, but Kremlin officials say otherwise

In a rare public sign that all is not well in Russia, two high-ranking Moscow officials last week issued separate warnings about the state of the country’s economy. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov both highlighted that amid the Kremlin’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the tools Moscow once relied on to maintain wartime growth are nearly exhausted. Almost immediately, Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 20 dismissed the concerns, clai

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Serhii Dobrovolskyi, a Ukrainian soldier who had been in Russian captivity since 2023, has died just a month after his release at the end of May as part of a 1000-for-1000 prisoner swap, an official from the soldier's home region announced on June 21.

The case is the latest in a chain of Ukrainian soldiers' unexpected deaths after their return from Russian captivity, highlighting the effects of "widespread and systematic" torture of prisoners of war (POWs) in Russian prisons, reported by the U.N.

"Serhii Dobrovolskyi was released from captivity at the end of May this year. A few days ago, he was met by his fellow townspeople in his hometown," wrote the head of the soldier's native Zdolbuniv district in Rivne Oblast, Vladyslav Sukhliak, on Facebook. The exact cause of death was not immediately announced.

A video posted by the Zdolbuniv city council on June 17 shows Dobrovolskyi being greeted in Zdolbuniv by a crowd chanting the Ukrainian anthem as the soldier is hugging his mother. He was also presented with a korovai, a round bread loaf, as part of the symbolic Ukrainian tradition of welcome with bread and salt.

"Finally, after almost two years, the mother hugged her son," the Zdolbuniv city council commented on the video.

Sukhliak added that Dobrovolskyi was 43 years old at the time of death.  "The war with the damned (Russian) occupiers takes lives and health of the defenders," he wrote.

Earlier in June, another Ukrainian soldier returned from Russian captivity had died unexpectedly.

Dmytro Shapovalov, a 32-year-old defender of Ukraine who was exchanged in 2023 after over a year in Russian prisons, had died on June 9, according to the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.

His sister Anastasiia said that Shapovalov endured torture, hunger, and psychological pressure in captivity. After his release, Shapovalov returned to military service. He died in his sleep, presumably from heart failure, Suspilne reports.

After his death, a representative of the Coordination Headquarters managing the prisoner swaps, Yuliia Pavliuk, published a video showing Shapovalov eating an apple on the day of his release.

"I had just been dreaming about an apple for a year," Shapovalov says in the video.

In 2023, a high-ranking officer from the "Azov" brigade, Oleh Mudrak, died at 35 years old, months after his release from Russian captivity. As a POW, he survived the Olenivka camp explosion and endured a dramatic weight loss in just 100 days, as seen in the photos published by Stanislav Aseyev, a Ukrainian writer and activist.

Treatment of "Azov" fighters in Russian prisons is notoriously brutal due to their nationalistic values and Russian propaganda that worked for years to smear the unit's reputation both in Russia and internationally.

Some Azov fighters died from torture in Russian captivity or were sentenced to decades in prison for alleged war crimes. Many of them were among the 54 Ukrainian prisoners killed in an explosion in Olenivka penal colony in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast on July 28, 2022.

Ukraine accused Russia of orchestrating the explosion, while Russia has been systematically preventing international organizations from conducting an independent investigation on the site of the attack.

The U.N. reported widespread torture of Ukrainian POWs in Russia and brutal conditions of their detention over the past years.

Russia ‘afraid to admit’ scale of losses, trying to hide by dumping soldiers’ bodies on Ukraine, Zelensky says

Ukrainian authorities have confirmed that at least 20 of the bodies Russia returned as Ukrainian were actually Russian soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Editor's note: The story is being updated.

Ukraine has brought home a group of soldiers released from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on June 19, marking yet another in a recent series of exchanges with Moscow.

"These are warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. Most of them had been held captive since 2022," Zelensky said, without revealing their numbers.

The exchange follows four similar swaps carried out last week in accordance with Ukraine-Russia agreements reached at peace talks in Istanbul on June 2.

As in the other recent cases, the latest swap focused on severely ill and wounded prisoners of war (POWs), Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs said.

"We are working to bring our people back. I thank everyone who helps make these exchanges possible. Our goal is to free every single one of them," Zelensky said.

Russia's Defense Ministry also announced a prisoner exchange with the Ukrainian side, without specifying the number of soldiers involved.

"Every defender released today has serious medical diagnoses and illnesses resulting from their injuries and captivity," the Coordination Headquarters said.

A significant part of the released captives defended Mariupol during the Russian siege in 2022, while others fought elsewhere in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kyiv oblasts. All of them are privates or non-commissioned officers.

The oldest of the released captives was 63 years old, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said, adding that another, a 45-year-old service member, was released on his birthday.

The Istanbul deal was reached during the second round of direct talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul at the beginning of the month.

While no political breakthrough was achieved, both sides agreed to a phased exchange of prisoners and the repatriation of fallen soldiers' bodies. As part of that agreement, Russia pledged to return the bodies of up to 6,000 Ukrainian service members and citizens.

Moscow has handed over 6,057 bodies to Ukraine in several stages over the past few days. Kyiv later said these also included fallen Russian soldiers, though it is unclear whether this was done on purpose or by accident.

The June 2 agreements came after the largest-ever POW swap in late May, when 1,000 prisoners were exchanged on each side.

Ukraine repeatedly called for a prisoner exchange in an all-for-all format, but Russia continues to reject the offer.

Russia has handed Kyiv the bodies of its own soldiers mixed in with those of Ukrainian soldiers during recent repatriation of the fallen, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on June 16.

Klymenko's statement follows the completion of an exchange between Ukraine and Russia of the remains of soldiers killed in action earlier the same day, under agreements reached during recent peace talks in Istanbul.

Kyiv returned a total of 6,057 bodies. Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and member of the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks, claimed that Russia received the bodies of 78 deceased servicemen.

According to Klymenko, the identification process has been significantly complicated by the condition in which Russia returned the bodies.

"Parts of the bodies (of fallen soldiers) are in different bags. There are cases when the remains of one person are returned even during different stages of repatriation," the minister said.

Klymenko said that Russia may have included the bodies of its own soldiers in the transfer to Ukraine either on purpose or by accident.

"This could have been done by the Russians on purpose to increase the number of bodies transferred and to load our (forensic) experts with work, adding to all this cynical information pressure. Or it could be their usual negligent attitude toward their own people. In any case, we also identify these bodies," Klymenko said.

The June 2 negotiations in Istanbul resulted in the most expansive prisoner and body exchange agreement of the full-scale war, although no ceasefire was reached.

The deal followed the largest-ever POW swap in late May, when 1,000 prisoners were exchanged on each side. Additional exchanges last week included severely wounded and sick soldiers.

Russia accused Ukraine on June 7 of rejecting a proposed body return, publishing footage allegedly showing Ukrainian corpses stored in refrigeration units. Kyiv dismissed the claims, saying the footage was filmed inside Russia and not at a designated exchange location.

Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service reported on June 16 that Russia is preparing to escalate a disinformation campaign related to ongoing POW exchanges next week, aiming to provoke public outrage in Ukrainian society.

From buffer zone to new front: Russia pushes deeper into Sumy Oblast

In March 2025, as Ukrainian forces made their final retreat from Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, new grey spots began to appear on open-source maps on the other side of the state border, in Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast. For the first time since 2022, when Moscow’s forces retreated

The Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell