May 30, 2023

Crimean Hostages


Crimean Hostages
A penitential center in Moscow.  Senate of Russian Federation, Flickr.

Meduza journalists discovered a secret jail in Crimea where Ukrainian civilians are being held. The center, at Simferopol’s pre-trial detention center, is controlled by the Russian FSB.

According to Meduza, Ukrainian prisoners are separated from the rest of the prison population, and their presence in the pre-trial detention center is carefully hidden: only specially admitted persons have access to the closed institution. Ukrainians who managed to escape from the secret prison have said they were brutally abused: guards strangled, beat, and tortured them with electricity.

Among the jail's prisoners are political activists, volunteers, and people who participated in anti-Russian rallies in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Most of the prisoners do not have any legal status. Some of them are being prosecuted, including on charges of terrorism or attempting to commit a terrorist act. In most cases, prisoners cannot contact the outside world, and their detention in the prison is known only after their release.

Meduza reports that there are similar secret prisons in other regions of Russia. They are controlled not by the FSB, but by the Military Police Department of the Ministry of Defense. At the same time, the exact number of detained Ukrainian civilians can only be estimated.

According to the Verkhovna Rada's Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmitry Lubinets, the Russian Federation is illegally detaining about 20,000 Ukrainians.

Ukrainian authorities and various NGO organizations, such as the Every Human Being Project, are looking for Ukrainian civilians detained in Russia or in the occupied territories. From time to time Ukrainian authorities are able to free them.

International law prohibits the imprisonment of civilians not serviing in the armed forces.

 

 

You Might Also Like

Dance Floor Dissent
  • May 26, 2023

Dance Floor Dissent

A video of people singing pro-Ukraine lyrics prompted government intervention.
Screws are Tightening
  • April 12, 2023

Screws are Tightening

March has seen a serious tightening of the screws of repression by the Russian regime.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals
[INVALID]
[INVALID]

Some of our Books

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955