The Ukrainians Stuck in Russia’s New Gulag
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has created a humanitarian crisis that extends far beyond the battlefield. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, thousands of Ukrainian civilians and military personnel have been illegally detained in Russian prisons and detention facilities across occupied territories. What unfolds behind these prison walls represents a systematic violation of international law, with torture, enforced disappearances, and indefinite detention becoming standard practice. This modern gulag system demands urgent international attention.
The Scale of Detention
The numbers alone are staggering. Research conducted by the Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv has documented that Russia has deprived approximately 7,000 civilian Ukrainians of their liberty since February 2022.[1] Of these, about 1,600 civilians have been confirmed in detention facilities, while the remaining 5,400 are likely held in Russian prisons with little to no official acknowledgment.[1] When military personnel are included, estimates suggest that between 6,000 and 7,000 Ukrainian soldiers remain in Russian captivity as of 2025, with more than half detained in temporarily occupied territories.[2] Ukraine’s human rights commissioner reports even higher figures, estimating more than 16,000 Ukrainian civilian detainees currently held by Russia.[3]
These individuals are catalogued in the Ukrainian Unified Register of Missing Persons under Special Circumstances, which contains information on approximately 14,000 civilians who have disappeared since the invasion began.[1] However, these figures remain approximate because Russian authorities consistently refuse to provide information about or access to their detainees, making precise accounting nearly impossible.
A System Without Legal Basis
What distinguishes Russian detention practices from ordinary incarceration is their fundamental illegality. The Russian authorities have created a procedure for imprisoning Ukrainian civilians that violates both international humanitarian law and Russian legislation itself.[1] Detention orders are signed by regional heads of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSS), with the same officials extending detention periods every three months—all without court decisions or legal justification.[1]
Many FSS officials understand the illegality of their actions, yet continue detaining Ukrainian civilians regardless. This deliberate disregard for law suggests these detentions serve purposes beyond criminal justice. Experts believe Russia may be using detained civilians as leverage to pressure Ukraine in future negotiations.[1]
Where the Detained Are Held
Ukrainian civilians are imprisoned in both official and secret detention facilities scattered across occupied territories and within Russia itself.[1] Official locations include pretrial detention centers, prisons, and correctional colonies—approximately fifty-seven such facilities according to unpublished data from the Coordination Headquarters for Prisoners of War Affairs.[1] Secret prisons add another layer of horror, as detainees held in these unacknowledged facilities receive no visits, no communication with the outside world, and no accountability for their treatment.
This geographic dispersal serves a strategic purpose: it prevents families from locating loved ones and complicates international monitoring efforts. Many civilians were detained during the initial Russian occupation of Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson oblasts in February and March 2022.[1] Though these territories have since been liberated, the detained civilians remain imprisoned in Russia, separated from their homeland by thousands of kilometers.
Systematic Torture and Abuse
The conditions inside Russian detention facilities constitute war crimes. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented that more than 91 percent of civilians surveyed after their release stated they had been subjected to torture, ill treatment, and sexual violence.[1] Methods include severe beatings, electric shocks, mock executions, forced nudity, and psychological humiliation.[6]
Beyond physical torture, detainees endure inhumane conditions that destroy their health and dignity. Prisoners are confined to closed cells with only a single one-hour walk permitted daily.[1] Nutrition is deliberately insufficient, and medical care is virtually nonexistent. Three civilians have died over the past two years due to poor-quality medical care alone.[1] The psychological toll of indefinite detention without trial compounds these physical hardships, creating a system designed to break both body and spirit.
Even “Release” Means Captivity
The rare instances when civilians are released offer no genuine freedom. Only thirteen documented cases of civilian release have occurred, and release happens exclusively in occupied areas of Ukraine—never in Russia itself.[1] Even after formal release, the FSS prevents these individuals from traveling outside their region, effectively keeping them imprisoned despite no longer being in detention facilities.[1] These restrictions are entirely illegal under international law, yet Ukrainian civilians remain trapped by them nonetheless.
The Broader Crime
Russian courts have compounded these abuses by convicting at least 125 Ukrainian prisoners of war on terrorism-related charges for actions that constitute lawful acts of war.[3] This violates the Geneva Conventions, which protect POWs from prosecution merely for participating in hostilities as combatants.[3] Convictions are often based on false confessions extracted through torture, creating a veneer of legality over fundamentally criminal proceedings.
Additionally, Russia has deported thousands of Ukrainian children to Russian territory—a war crime for which the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Putin and Russian children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova.[3]
Conclusion
The detention of thousands of Ukrainians in Russia’s prison system represents one of the conflict’s gravest humanitarian catastrophes. Without court proceedings, without legal justification, and without basic human rights protections, these individuals languish in a modern gulag system. International pressure must intensify to secure their release and hold Russian authorities accountable for these systematic violations of international humanitarian law. Until then, thousands of Ukrainians remain trapped in legal limbo, their fates uncertain and their suffering largely invisible to the world.
Original source: The New York Times – The Ukrainians Stuck in Russia’s New Gulag
The post “Thousands of Ukrainians Trapped in Russia’s Modern Gulag: Urgent Global Action Needed” first appeared on Limited Liability Solutions.
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