Ukrainian soldier recounts brutal ordeal in Russian captivity
Vladyslav Zadorin, a 25-year-old soldier of the Ukrainian Marine Corps who defended Snake Island in 2022, talks about the inhumane torture he experienced during nearly two years of Russian captivity. He shares his story so the world can know the truth about the fate of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
During a meeting with journalists in Warsaw, Zadorin recalled how he arrived on Snake Island at the beginning of January 2022. Previously, he had participated in battles in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. On February 24, unaware of the start of a full-scale invasion, he and other soldiers watched Russian ships shelling the island. After a heroic fight, lacking ammunition and facing an enemy advantage, they were taken captive along with 80 others.
“By evening, we were prisoners. In Ukraine, it was believed that we had all died,” he recounted. For 679 days, he endured unimaginable physical and psychological torture.
One of the most harrowing experiences was when prisoners were forced into industrial dryers where they were heated. Many did not survive these tortures. “Before being captured, I weighed about 120 kilograms, and after I was released — just 60 kilograms,” Zadorin said.
this is how the Russians treated Ukrainian prisoners
The living conditions were inhumane. Prisoners were forced to eat mouldy bread, and in desperation caught mice or ate toilet paper. The Russians used propaganda, making them read falsified versions of Ukrainian literature, depicting Cossacks as Russian soldiers.
The guards tried to force confessions about alleged ties to NATO. Through staged executions and torture, they wanted to prove the captured soldiers were not Ukrainians but citizens of Western countries. “In prisons like Kursk, Taganrog, or Rostov-on-Don, prisoners were not only tortured,” he recounted.
Despite the inhumane treatment, Zadorin did not lose faith in people. He gratefully remembers Russian prisoners who left him a pack of cookies as a small gesture of support. After three months of rehabilitation in Ukraine and Lithuania, he now shares his experiences to bring attention to the situation of Ukrainian prisoners and the brutality of the Russian regime.
