Since 2014, the beginning of the armed conflict, Ukrainian civilians have been taken prisoners by the Kremlin. Some of them had health problems, were pregnant or already had several children in their arms at the time of their abduction.

The exact number of detained women is impossible to say, but we are talking about hundreds, and possibly thousands, of unidentified women. Women were held in cells with men, denied food, drinking water, hygiene products, threatened and tortured. These photos depict images and information about 15 female prisoners of war from Russia, whose information we have precisely. This list is not exhaustive and represents only a small number of detainees.

Among them is Olena Fedoruk, who has been imprisoned for almost 7 years. Back in 2014, her daughters moved to Kyiv from the temporarily occupied village of Kalmiuske in Donetsk region, but Olena herself could not do so because of her sick mother. Representatives of the occupation administration detained the woman on the 25th of July 2017 and took her to an unknown destination. At first, she was held in the notorious 'Izolyatsiia' prison, where she was physically and mentally humiliated and forced to work in the kitchen. Later, Olena was accused of "espionage" and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Olena works hard as a seamstress in Snizhnyansk penal colony No. 127. She developed thrombophlebitis from constant sitting: her legs swell up badly. When the pain in her legs becomes unbearable, she is allowed to stay in her cell, but is forced to work: manually unloading or loading garbage trucks or carrying firewood and coal.

Another prisoner, Maryna Yurchak, regularly wrote on Twitter while staying in Donetsk, telling about the life of her city under occupation. She was detained for this in November 2019. The girl was accused of spying for the SBU and insulting the first persons of the 'republic' and sentenced to 15 years.

Despite their long time in captivity, these women have not yet been included in the exchange lists. In 2022, Ukraine managed to return 108 women, including only 8 civilians.

The prisoners need freedom, and until that happens, their stories need to be widely publicised and their families and friends need to support them.

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