"They wanted to break me": Testimonies of systematic sexual violence against Ukrainian prisoners
A new investigation reveals a systematic pattern of sexual violence and torture in Russian detention facilities, intended to break the spirit of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Victims report rape, electric shocks, and humiliation, with evidence suggesting involvement from senior command.
New testimonies from Ukrainian prisoners of war who returned from Russia reveal an organized system of torture and sexual violence in detention facilities. UN data and an investigation by the Wall Street Journal show that these abuses are not isolated incidents, but rather a psychological weapon systematically used against detainees.
Before heading to the front in 2022, Serhii Boichuk told his wife that if he were captured, he did not want to be taken alive. A few months later, he was captured by Russian forces. For more than two years, he says, he was beaten, tortured, and subjected to severe sexual abuse. Even today, at 33, he has difficulty walking.
"They wanted to break me psychologically," Boichuk told the Wall Street Journal. According to him, his captors raped him using bottles and sticks and held a knife to his genitals. He was released in October 2024 as part of a prisoner exchange deal, but the injuries and trauma have remained with him.
Boichuk's testimony is not alone. Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians released from detention facilities in Russia described to the newspaper a recurring pattern of sexual violence, humiliation, and torture. The testimonies are consistent with findings collected by UN investigators, the Ukrainian prosecution, intelligence services, and human rights organizations.
The accumulation of evidence raises the suspicion that sexual violence against prisoners and detainees was not the result of isolated acts, but a method that repeated itself in various facilities and was intended to humiliate, intimidate, extract information, and break the spirit of the victims.
According to the UN, evidence has been collected so far in about 310 cases of sexual violence attributed to Russian forces since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The described acts included rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, beatings, and the use of electric shocks on the genitals.
Among the documented victims, 280 were men, 26 women, and four girls. The data highlights a significant shift in the pattern known from many other conflicts: while at the beginning of the war many sexual assaults against Ukrainian women were documented in occupied cities and villages, as the war continued, Ukrainian soldiers who fell into captivity became a central part of the known victims.
Former prisoners said they were forced to stand, bend over, or walk naked. Others described electric shocks to the genitals, rape using objects, and sometimes rape committed directly by guards. Some of them said that the guards told them the purpose of the abuse was to prevent Ukrainians from having children.
Others testified that they were threatened with having construction foam inserted into their bodies, which expands and hardens after use. "The same testimonies, the same form of abuse, everything repeats itself according to a pattern," said Mykhailo Romanov, a lawyer at the Kharkiv Human Rights Group, which collected testimonies from 11 former prisoners of war.
According to David Schwendiman, a former American and international prosecutor who investigated war crimes in Bosnia, the repetition of the same methods in different facilities may indicate that these are not just outbursts of violence by individual guards.
"No one in the chain of command can claim that in these circumstances they did not know what was happening, even if they did not give a direct order to carry out the acts," he said.
In some cases, according to the testimonies, the violence even received backing from senior ranks. Former Russian prison system personnel told the Wall Street Journal that a senior official in the prison service in Saint Petersburg told guards who handled Ukrainian prisoners that there were no restrictions on the use of violence. According to the testimonies, the violence often included sexual abuse as well.
In another case, according to Ukrainian court documents, prosecutors attribute to Alexander Naumenko, a senior officer in the Russian National Guard, an order to sexually assault 17 civilian detainees at a camp in the Rostov region of Russia. Former detainees identified him in photos presented to them by investigators. Naumenko did not provide a response.
Civilians in territories occupied by Russia also told of severe abuse. Halyna Tyshchenko, 63, said that at the beginning of the war she was raped at gunpoint by a Russian soldier in her home. Afterward, she said, he took her out naked into the street in sub-zero temperatures.
The unit in which the soldier served was stationed in a house a few hundred meters away. Tyshchenko said she is convinced that his commanders knew about the abuse.
Oleksii Syvak, a resident of Kherson, was arrested after hanging a Ukrainian flag on his country's Independence Day. According to him, his captors showed him an old field telephone and mockingly told him it was time to "call Joe Biden." Afterward, they connected the device's wires to his genitals and passed an electric current through them.
This is a method of torture known for years in the Russian prison system. According to UN investigators, guards call it a "phone call to Putin," and in the past, it was called a "phone call to Lenin." Ukrainian investigators claim that the very supply of old telephone devices to various facilities indicates the involvement and responsibility of higher-ranking officials.
Syvak was released before the Russian forces' withdrawal from Kherson. Today, he manages a support group for about 200 Ukrainian men who claim they were tortured by Russia.
"In the Russian basement, I screamed so loud, as if the whole world could hear," he said. "Now I want to tell the world what happened."
According to the UN, Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians were abused in nine different detention facilities inside Russia. Ukrainian investigators claim that in seven of them, the conditions of abuse were particularly severe.
All former Ukrainian prisoners of war interviewed by the UN reported torture or inhumane treatment in Russian detention facilities. More than 70% of them said the abuse also included sexual violence.
Ukrainian prosecutor Anna Sosonska said her office is overseeing about 400 investigations concerning sexual violence attributed to Russian soldiers against civilians. In 148 of the cases, the victims were men.
"Sexual abuse is the cheapest way to wage war," she said. "They use it as a weapon to humiliate and break a person."
The full extent of the phenomenon is still unknown. Russia has repeatedly denied UN investigators access to territories under its control and to its detention facilities. Alongside this, fear of retaliation, shame, and stigma cause many victims, both men and women, not to report what they went through.
Ukrainian forces have also been accused of abusing Russian prisoners, but according to UN data, the scale of the abuses was significantly smaller. About half of the Russian prisoners interviewed reported some form of inappropriate treatment, but less than 5% reported sexual abuse.
According to the UN and testimonies of Russian prisoners, most of the abuse cases attributed to Ukrainian forces occurred near the front line, shortly after capture. After the prisoners were transferred to organized detention facilities, they generally received proper treatment.
The Ukrainian government stated that cases attributed to its forces are being investigated, and emphasized that unlike Russia, it allows international observers to visit detention facilities and interview prisoners.
The Kremlin and the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service refused to comment on the report. Russia has previously rejected accusations of sexual violence and abuse of prisoners, claiming they are baseless and politically motivated.
