Photos showing the stark physical transformation of a Ukrainian soldier after three years in Russian captivity have been circulating online, documenting the inhumane conditions faced by Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The comparative images of Oleksandr Strafun, a reserve officer who defended Mariupol, were published by volunteer Olena Zolotariova from the NGO “Power of People.” The photos show Oleksandr with his wife Olena before and after his captivity period. Both of them consented to have their photos appear online. This is how Russia’s full-scale aggression that began in February 2022 changed their lives forever. 

Oleksandr and Olena had lived for each other before the full-scale war. Though he had not participated in the fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and worked at the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, he felt compelled to serve when Russia invaded explicitly.

On 21 February 2022, Oleksandr contacted military recruitment offices to offer assistance. “He always knew that if something suddenly started, he had no right to stay home,” Olena recalled, according to her interview with 0629 news outlet about Mariupol. When he suggested she evacuate, she refused, citing her two cats and the need to help his parents.

Oleksandr enlisted in territorial defense forces on 25 February, finding the recruitment office nearly empty except for a guard directing volunteers to territorial defense units. The following morning, 26 February, he called from territorial defense headquarters with news that would define their separation:

“He said he wouldn’t return home anymore. I asked, when should I expect you? And he answered: ‘I’ll return after victory.'”

Their final direct communication occurred on 1 March 2022, when Oleksandr requested personal items including soap and socks. Olena was unable to deliver these supplies before contact ceased entirely.

During the siege, Olena remained in blockaded Mariupol despite knowing about the garrison’s order to surrender and the final stand of Ukrainian soldiers at Azovstal. She suspected Oleksandr might not answer calls from unfamiliar numbers, while her own phone had been stolen by Kadyrov forces.

After reaching safety, Olena connected with families of other prisoners through support networks. Through these contacts, she learned Oleksandr had been seen at the notorious Olenivka detention facility in occupied Donetsk Oblast and managed to pass along her new phone number through another prisoner’s wife.

On the night of 29 July 2022, an explosion struck a barracks at the Olenivka prison colony, killing about 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), mostly defenders of Mariupol including members of the Azov Regiment, and injuring over 70 others.

Both Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the attack: Russia claimed Ukraine used a HIMARS missile to strike the prison, while Ukraine accused Russian forces of deliberately shelling the facility to cover up torture and executions of POWs.

The day before the documented attack, Oleksandr called Olena and described unusual activity at the facility.

“He said something strange was happening in the colony, some constant movements. Some people were being taken away, others relocated. He thought, maybe this is already an exchange?” Olena recounted.

She went to sleep hopeful but woke up to the news of the explosion and casualties, not knowing if her husband remained alive. Oleksandr survived because he had been transferred to another facility prior to the incident.

He managed to call her, promising an exchange was coming and telling her to wait. That conversation marked the beginning of an extended silence lasting for years.

In 2025, Oleksandr was returned home to Ukraine in one of the prisoner exchanges that resulted from Istanbul peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations, that, however, failed to reach a ceasefire agreement.

All released soldiers undergo rehabilitation, including urgent medical care and psychological support. Ukrainian authorities also provide financial compensation for their time in captivity, as part of the reintegration process after often prolonged and brutal detention in Russia.

Russia deliberately destroyed Mariupol. The Center for the Study of Occupation has released the first direct evidence that Moscow was preparing to seize the Ukrainian city long before the full-scale invasion began.

According to Petro Andriushchenko, the head of the organization, in 2019, Russia officially developed and published a project for a “transport and transit hub” on the territory of Mariupol.

This confirms that the occupation and destruction of the city were not a chaotic result of warfare, but part of a premeditated plan.

The project in question already listed Mariupol as part of the Russian-controlled illegal entity located in Donetsk Oblast territory. The documentation outlined the creation of an infrastructure hub in the Zhovtnevyi and Prymorskyi districts, south of the historic center, with specific geographic boundaries: from Pushkin and Kotovsky streets to the shoreline of the Taganrog Bay.

Two Russian institutions, the Arena Institute and the Unified Institute for Spatial Planning of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for urban policy in occupied territories, prepared the project.

“This is the first public proof of preparations for the complete destruction of Mariupol prior to the full-scale invasion,” Andriushchenko emphasizes.

Earlier, Zaur Gurtsiyev, deputy mayor of Stavropol and former commander of the air operation over Mariupol, was killed in a grenade explosion that occurred overnight on 29 May. The explosion reportedly occurred in southern Russia’s Stavropol city near a residential building.

He was awarded multiple Russian state honors, including an order for his role in the occupation of Mariupol.

Grenade explosion kills Russian commander behind 2022 Mariupol deadly airstrikes

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Ukraine conducted another prisoner swap with Russia, returning home dozens of wounded, ill, and young defenders, many of whom had been held since 2022. Both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and POW HQ did not specify the exact number of POWs returned in this exchange. One of the photos shows at least 41 people.

Fourth exchange in one week

On 14 June 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on his official Telegram channel that Ukraine had carried out the fourth prisoner exchange in a single week.

“We continue to bring our people back from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy wrote.

He added that many of those released had been in Russian hands since 2022 and included servicemen from the Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.

“We must free everyone and we’re working toward this so that no one is left to the enemy,” Zelenskyy stated, thanking all those contributing to the process.

Wounded, seriously ill, and young defenders returned

According to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, this latest exchange was part of a broader deal focusing on releasing those who are wounded or seriously ill. It was carried out under agreements previously reached with Russia in Istanbul.

The returned soldiers include members of the Armed Forces, Air Assault Forces, Navy, Territorial Defense Forces, State Border Guard Service, National Guard, and the State Special Transport Service. The Coordination Headquarters emphasized that the majority had been in captivity since 2022, with many captured during the defense of Mariupol.

High number of officers and young servicemen among released

Most of the freed defenders reportedly were officers, while some were under the age of 25. They had fought on multiple fronts, including the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Kursk directions. Their release marks a significant development in Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to bring its soldiers home.

The Coordination Headquarters confirmed that all released defenders will undergo comprehensive medical examinations and receive physical and psychological rehabilitation. They will also be granted the full financial compensation due for the duration of their captivity.

2022 Mariupol Defense

The defense of Mariupol in 2022 resulted in heavy losses for Ukraine, with hundreds of servicemen captured after the fall of the Azovstal plant. Since then, Ukraine has conducted multiple prisoner swaps, often focusing on those with severe injuries or health conditions, facilitated through international negotiations.

Russian media and officials confirmed the death of Zaur Gurtsiyev, deputy mayor of Stavropol and former commander of the air operation over Mariupol, in a grenade explosion that occurred overnight on 29 May. The explosion reportedly occurred on Chekhov Street in southern Russia’s Stavropol city near a residential building. 

Stavropol Krai Governor Vladimir Vladimirov announced in the morning that “as a result of the night incident on Chekhov Street in Stavropol, veteran of the Special Military Operation and participant in the ‘Vremya Geroev’ program, Zaur Aleksandrovich Gurtsiyev, was killed.”

According to Vladimirov, law enforcement and security services are investigating the case, and “All versions are being considered, including the organization of a terrorist attack involving Nazis from Ukraine” – the official Russia calls Ukrainian authorities “Nazis” to deny Ukraine’s statehood and justify the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Shot close to law enforcement reported that two men sitting on a bench outside the building and drinking alcohol were killed by a grenade explosion. The perpetrator is currently unknown, another pro-Kremlin channel Mash noted.

At the time of the publication of this article, Ukrainian officials did not confirm the country’s involvement in the incident.

Footage of the explosion circulates online

Telegram channels published video footage from the moment of the incident. In the video, a man wearing a cap and carrying a bag approaches Gurtsiyev. His face is not visible to the camera. The explosion follows immediately after. This clearly shows that the two men were not sitting on a bench during the explosion.

Gurtsiyev’s role in Mariupol air operation

The Vremya Geroev Russian military propaganda website says that Gurtsiyev “directly commanded the air component of the operation to liberate the city of Mariupol” in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast in 2022. He was said to have introduced targeting technologies that “greatly increased the accuracy and effectiveness” of Russian missile strikes.

In Stavropol, Gurtsiyev was appointed first deputy mayor of Stavropol in September 2024 to officially oversee “preventing terrorism and extremism.” He was awarded multiple Russian state honors, including an order for his role in the occupation of Mariupol and Avdiivka, the Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” 1st and 2nd Class with swords, as well as the Zhukov and Suvorov Medals.

Russia is constructing new power lines in occupied southeastern Ukraine to connect the captured Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) to its own electrical grid, according to Greenpeace and The New York Times.

A new satellite analysis by Greenpeace reveals that Russia has built 90 km (55 miles) of high-voltage electricity lines and pylons between the occupied Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Berdiansk, providing concrete evidence of Moscow’s plans to restart the facility and connect it to the Russian electrical grid.

Recent imagery from 11-12 May is showing 15 additional pylons and over 5 km (3 miles) of new lines east of Topolyne, north of Mariupol.

Based on the construction’s location and direction, Greenpeace determined the project aims to link the new power lines to a large substation near Mariupol that connects to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, located about 225 km (140 miles) west.

Russia plans to restart Ukrainian occupied nuclear plant

Russian officials have explicitly stated their intention to restart the plant. In December 2024, Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, stated Russia’s intention to restart the reactors “as fast as possible.”

On 21 May 2025, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev told the Russian Federation Council that “everyone is living the dream of raising the station,” and reported that Russia has developed a plan to bring the plant to full capacity. He noted that a plan had been developed to return the facility to full capacity, but acknowledged the main challenge was the need to “replace the power grid.”

“This is some of the first hard evidence of Russian moving ahead with its dangerous and illegal plans for restarting Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia,” said Shaun Burnie, nuclear specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine. 

Burnie also argued that “the plant is the sole property of Ukraine” and called for Russia to be stopped from its restart plans.

What are the risks of restarting the nuclear plant after years of occupation?

Energy experts warn that restarting the Zaporizhzhia plant would carry significant risks. After more than three years of war, critical equipment remains unreplaced and many experienced Ukrainian staff members have fled.

The 2023 destruction of a nearby Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River also deprived the plant of its main water source needed to cool reactors and spent fuel rods.

Jan Vande Putte, nuclear expert at Greenpeace Ukraine, stated that “it is impossible for Rosatom to meet nuclear safety guidelines in seeking to restart ZNPP.” He called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to explicitly communicate this to Russian government representatives and to avoid supporting any preparations for reactor restart.

Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko stated that “any attempts by Russian representatives to restart power units could lead to unpredictable consequences.”

The plant’s proximity to active fighting also raised international concerns about potential nuclear disaster, with experts warning against any restart attempts under current conditions.

Russia ignores Trump’s peace proposal for ZNPP

The power line construction conflicts with recent US diplomatic efforts regarding the plant’s future. The Trump administration expressed interest in the United States taking control of Ukrainian nuclear plants and presented a seven-point peace plan calling for Russia to return the plant to Ukraine under US management, with the facility supplying electricity to both Ukraine and Russia.

Russian officials have consistently rejected surrendering control over the facility, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov telling CBS News that the plant was being run by Rosatom and that he did not think “any change is conceivable.”

The Institute for the Study of War suggested that Russia is positioning itself for permanent control over the facility and signalling intentions to occupy and annex additional Ukrainian territory.

Russian officials have also intensified rhetoric about historical claims to “Novorossiya,” [New Russia] defined by Moscow as encompassing all of eastern and southern Ukraine, according to ISW. 

Russian occupation authorities have recently advocated for Russian control over areas of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast near the Dnipro River that Russia has not yet annexed. The Russian definition of Novorossiya includes territory directly across from the nuclear plant on the west bank of the Dnipro River.

Russia’s efforts to connect the plant to its power grid suggest Moscow expects either to push the frontline significantly away from the facility or to occupy and annex Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to ensure safe operation of the nuclear complex.