Shock: This is what Roman looks like after being captured as a prisoner of war

Photos taken after the exchange as part of the Ukrainian program “I want to live” show the man’s poor condition. He is so emaciated that he inevitably reminds one of a prisoner from a German concentration camp, write those responsible for the show.

According to “I Want to Live,” Korylyk was taken prisoner at the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine at Chernobyl, north of Kiev. There, Korylik’s team is tasked with protecting the nuclear power plant. Korylik and 168 national guardsmen were arrested in March 2022 and initially taken to nearby Belarus.

When 20 Minutes visited Chernobyl two years ago, nuclear plant officials confirmed that several security guards were caught. Nuclear plant workers were held hostage for months to ensure the plant’s operation.

Photos of the emaciated man cause horror and dismay – but not only. Russian military blogger Yuri Kodenok gloats that Korylik “drank from puddles and ate rats” before finally crawling out “from the sewers in Mariupol.” “Enemy sources, of course, say the boy starved to death in Russian captivity,” Kotenok said.

There can be no question about that. The website Volonter-base.ru has long listed Roman Vasilievich Gorelik as a prisoner of war. Ukrainian sites listing prisoners of war also include him.

“We will record a video with Roman or create a separate publication with information about the conditions of custody of Roman and other prisoners of war,” the people responsible for the “I want to live” project told Ukrainian media.

In Russian prisons, prisoners are beaten, starved and raped. This was independently reported by several Ukrainian veterans who spoke to 20 Minutes last year.

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Group in Ukraine (HRMMU) also confirms this. Of the sixty prisoners recently released, almost all were subjected to torture, electric shocks and threats of execution, long-term stress conditions and mock executions (see also here). More than half have experienced sexual violence.

Unlike Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine, Ukrainian prisoners of war are not allowed to have contact with their relatives. The Red Cross also has no access.

Between December 2023 and February 2024, HRMMU reports of increased killings of Ukrainian prisoners of war. At least 32 prisoners were reportedly hanged. All of these are in gross violation of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.