KARPYLIVKA, Ukraine: Russian POW propaganda divided a Ukrainian village after captive soldier Volodymyr Srebrodolskyy appeared in a video criticising his country before dying in Russian detention.
Srebrodolskyy had fought for Ukraine before Russian forces captured him on the eastern front, according to NBC News. In the video, he said he did not want to return to Ukraine.
Former prisoners told NBC News that captors routinely pressured detainees to follow scripts or give statements favourable to Russia.
After Srebrodolskyy’s body returned to Ukraine, some residents of Karpylivka opposed burying him in the village cemetery. Others defended him and said he made his remarks while a prisoner.
Ukrainian investigative outlet Slidstvo.Info reported in May that residents had resisted his burial because of the captivity video. A former fellow prisoner told the outlet that Srebrodolskyy had said Russian captors instructed him what to say.
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Human Rights Watch says the Geneva Conventions require countries to protect prisoners of war from intimidation, humiliation and public exposure. The organisation has previously called on both Russia and Ukraine to stop publishing identifying footage of captured soldiers.
New @UNHumanRights report finds that sexual violence against Ukrainian prisoners of war and Ukrainian civilian detainees held by the Russian Federation authorities is systematic and widespread.
More: https://t.co/rwXOPYoIua pic.twitter.com/U77RmhHH25
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) September 18, 2026The United Nations has documented widespread abuse of Ukrainian POWs in Russian custody. Of 187 recently released Ukrainian prisoners. Interviewed for a December 2025 report, 185 described torture or ill-treatment. Reported methods included beatings, electric shocks, suffocation and stress positions.
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The UN has also documented abuse of Russian POWs before their arrival at official Ukrainian detention facilities. More than half of 137 Russian prisoners interviewed reported torture or ill-treatment during interrogation or transfer.
Former Ukrainian POW Yevhen Shybalov told NBC News that Russian personnel pressured him during a filmed interview while an intelligence officer remained nearby. He said such videos could also provide families with proof that missing soldiers were alive and in captivity.
