The war in Ukraine has brought many human tragedies, one of them is the story of Roman Kryvulia. Roman, an armed forces technician stationed at a communications hub and former ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation) soldier, spent almost two years in Russian captivity suffering inhuman torture and intimidation.

His captivity began in his native village of Liptsi, (Kharkiv region, located 10 kilometres from the Russian border) where he was seized by the Russian occupiers.

He was tortured in a psychiatric hospital in Strilechе ((Kharkiv region, on the Ukraine-Russian border). This village, occupied from the first minutes of the full-scale invasion, is where he and other prisoners were subjected to brutal abuse. He was transferred to Hoptivka, a customs post also on the border and occupied from the first days after February 24, 2022. Here he was subjected to electric torture and his ribs were broken.

From there Roman was transferred many times each place farther from Kharkiv. Can you imagine the nightmare for prisoners, exhausted and beaten, to be driven blindfolded even for a short distance into the unknown being told they were going to be freed, never mind hundreds of kilometers. Hour after hour different scenarios ran through their minds: is this the time I'm being taken to die or is it possible they are actually bringing me home?"

Next, in Shebekino, Belgorod region (92 kilometers from Kharkiv), Roman was held in a tent for prisoners. Although he was not physically tortured, the conditions were harsh: he was not even allowed to raise his head.

Roman was then detained in Staryi Oskol (234 kilometers from Kharkiv), where he was subjected to constant beatings and psychological pressure such as threatening to cut off his fingers and send them to his wife...

Roman described the most horrific conditions in Tula High-Security Colony No. 1 in Donskе, Tula Region (645 kilometers from Kharkiv), where he spent nine months. There, according to Roman, Ukrainians suffer from terrible mistreatment, cold, hunger, and tuberculosis.

He was then transported to Mordovia, republic of the russian federation, (886 kilometers from Kharkiv), where the beatings and abuse continued for another 11 months. The electric torture never stopped, and three times Roman was pummelled until he lost consciousness.

At the end of January 2024, a planned exchange of prisoners did not take place as it was precisely then that a plane with Ukrainian captives supposedly crashed. They were again transferred to a colony, this time in Kamensk-Shakhtynsky, Rostov region (463 kilometres from Kharkiv).

...And finally, Roman along with other Ukrainian captives were given the opportunity to eat normally for six days. This was just before their actual exchange on the border in the Sumy region.

Roman remembers: "It was already the ninth move. I thought we were going to some new zone again and I decided not to hope for anything. We were blindfolded again but this time they addressed us without swearing and called us fellas. We were amazed. No-one had communicated with us like this in two years! For them, we were anything but military personnel, fellas, people."

Roman Kryvulia went through torture, hunger and constant fear, but ultimately he was released through an exchange and returned home to the Kharkiv region. Despite everything he went through, he kept his bravery and hope. His story is a testament to the cruelty and inhumane conditions to which Ukrainian prisoners of war are subjected when they are detained in Russian prisons.

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