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A former Ukrainian prisoner has given chilling testimony about her terrible five months of captivity. She claims to have suffered torture and forced labor from the Russians.
Russia is building prisons on its soil and in the territories it occupies to lock up Ukrainian civilians, in total violation of the Geneva Conventions. Behind the walls, civilians endure torture, psychological abuse and forced labor. Olena Yahupova, a former Ukrainian prisoner, tries to recover from her terrible five months of captivity. “They tied my hands and feet to an office chair, and hit me on the head with a two-liter bottle of water”she says.
Nearly 10,000 Ukrainian civilians could be taken prisoner
“They put a plastic bag over my head, taped it around my neck. One of them pinched my nose through the bag so I couldn’t breathe”, continues Olena Yahupova. She was tortured, but also forced to dig for hours with other prisoners in trenches for the Russian army in Zaporizhia (Ukraine). “We had to dig from morning until evening, sometimes until 4 a.m.”, she says. The Ukrainian government estimates that around 10,000 civilians could be taken prisoner. Nearly 400 were released, thanks to exchanges with Russian soldiers.