Thread by @NAFOvoyager

Ukrainian Female POWs: Accounts of Abuse.

Several Ukrainian women captured by russian forces have shared harrowing accounts of systematic abuse — including physical torture, sexual violence, and public humiliation.
👇
🧵1/13

Lyudmila Huseynova, 61, was detained by russia in 2019, surviving captivity for three years and 13 days.

“Any woman in ‘Izolyatsiya’ wasn’t just tortured — she was raped.”

🧵2/13

“They stripped me facing the wall. Someone touched me, and then there were a lot of hands. And they laughed, they pinched, they felt everywhere with their hands.”

"Women were often raped by soldiers under promises of seeing their children or getting food."

🧵3/13

“I heard terrible screams. I could hear people beating and people were screaming. It was such a horror. In my life, even when I was already beaten, it was not as horrible as listening to this.”

“My teeth fell out. I dropped to 38 kg.”

🧵4/13

Snizhana Vasylivna Ostapenko, 23, a junior sergeant of the 56th Separate Mechanised Brigade who fought in the battles for Mariupol and the Azovstal steel plant.

She was captured on May 16, 2022, and released after five months in Olenivka prison.

🧵5/13

“Sleep was impossible for days at a time,” she said. “The guards even told us, “We’re feeding you just enough so you don’t die.” It was like they were keeping us alive, and nothing more. They were trying to starve us slowly.”

🧵6/13

Valentyna Zubko, a 32-year-old military medic who was captured at the Illich Steel Plant during the siege of Mariupol.

She spent five-and-a-half months in captivity across four different prisons.

🧵7/13

“I was prepared for the possibility that I might die. I had come to terms with it. But when I was told about captivity, that was the first time I cried.”

🧵8/13

“Each guard tried to hit us as we walked. We had our heads down and they would force us down even lower. We were beaten badly and the guards seemed to enjoy it. There was no reason – they would just beat us for fun.”

🧵9/13

Larysa Kycherenko, 53, who served in Ukraine’s National Guard.

She was captured with her husband and her 34-year-old son in occupied Mariupol in 2022 after they were betrayed by their neighbours.

🧵10/13

“Afterwards, we were forced to sing the russian anthem while naked. We returned to the cells in tears, utterly distraught, crying and in a state of hysteria… It was inhumane. To them, we were nothing.”

🧵11/13

“They led us to the showers with bags over our heads, where we were forced to undress. We had to walk naked in front of the men and everyone else, bent over, through freezing cold water.”

🧵12/13

Despite the trauma, many survivors show remarkable resilience. By sharing their stories, they raise awareness and demand justice — a reminder of the need to support victims and hold perpetrators accountable.

SRC:
👇


🧵13/13telegraph.co.uk/global-health/…