On August 8, 2025, people in Kyiv bid farewell to Viktoriia Roshchyna, a 27-year-old journalist tortured to death while in Russian captivity. Her killing shocked the international community and became another stark reminder of Russia’s brutality and lawlessness.
He survived the hell of Mariupol and several Russian prisons—and never broke. Oleksandr Savov, 33, was one of the last Ukrainian soldiers to surrender at the Azovstal steel plant — the vast industrial fortress in the besieged southern city of Mariupol— in May 2022. Three years later, on March 19, 2025, he stepped off a prisoner-exchange flight with broken ribs, missing teeth and a single thought: to hug his 12-year-old daughter.
He’s been through constant beating with fists and sticks, made-up war crimes that he was forced to hang on other prisoners, and grueling 16-hour standing in a cell, this is the story of Yurii Sviderskyi, the 23-year-old Azov fighter from Khmelnytskyi. After putting down arms in Mariupol, he was imprisoned for over two years. Yurii watched the whole city burn to the ground, witnessed the Olenivka attack with other Ukrainian soldiers being killed, and saw numerous inhuman interrogations. It’s been six months since Yurii got back to Ukraine. He is still undergoing rehabilitation, as he still struggles with his teeth due to the injuries he received before his release. Frontliner spoke to Yurii in Khmelnytskyi when he came to see his girlfriend Taisiia between rehabilitation sessions. The following text is Yurii’s raw speech.
After enduring months of brutal torture, men freed from Russian captivity are forced to continue battling for their survival. Many have returned to a life stripped of homes, money, and the care they should receive from the state. To support themselves and others like them, these former prisoners have come together to form a network called The Alumni.