So who is torturing?
The most common lies about Ukrainian prisoners of war – main cases
In recent years, one question has echoed frequently from foreigners to Ukrainians: “How can you tell when a Russian is lying?” The answer, once a bitter joke, has now become almost proverbial: “If a Russian speaks, he is lying.”
But unfortunately not everyone can understand that in today’s hybrid warfare, the battlefield stretches far beyond trenches and frontlines — it infiltrates newsrooms, social media, and public discourse, where truth is often the first casualty. One of the next targets of this propaganda machine is Ukrainian prisoners of war.
For Russia, these captives are not just prisoners; they are pawns in a relentless campaign of disinformation.
Their stories are twisted, manipulated, and amplified to serve the Kremlin’s narrative.
- How do you separate truth from fiction in a sea of disinformation?
- How are these fakes created?
- Why are they so effective at sowing doubt and confusion even among informed audiences?
Vikna dissected the anatomy of Russian disinformation and revealed the methods, motives, and far-reaching consequences of these Kremlin-fabricated narratives.
Let’s start with the basics: what are fakes
— When we appeal to the concept of “fake,” we simultaneously mean at least a dozen different tools for distorting information, similar in essence but different in their manifestation, — explains political scientist and candidate of political sciences Yaroslav Teleshun.
What is hidden behind the concept of fake
Fake news
Manipulation
Deepfakes and other manifestations of AI
“sockpuppet” accounts
Phishing
Misinformation
Rumors
Clickbait
Satire, parody and shitposting
Bots
Fake news is not know-how: how and when it emerged
Fake news is not a modern know-how. Moreover, even the concept of “fake news” is not a product of recent decades, — the political scientist explains.
Despite the fact that the modern rethinking of the concept of “fake news” occurred only in 2017, this term was first introduced into circulation at the end of the 19th century. That is, before the emergence of modern means of communication: radio, television, the Internet, etc.
According to the scientist, an eloquent example from the Middle Ages, which has direct parallels with the modern Russian aggression against Ukraine, is the spread of fake news in 1475 in the city of Trento. Then, allegedly, the local Jewish community killed a Christian baby.
The spread of this news led to the arrest and torture of all the Jews in the city. And the attempts of Pope Sixtus IV to stop the wave of violence proved futile.
Putting aside the ethical part, it is worth recognizing that a fake is a fairly effective tool for “constructing” the reality necessary for the customer.
What are the most common fakes about Ukrainian prisoners of war
Oleksandra Mazur, a representative of the Olenivka Community, identifies the main disinformation tactics used by the Russian Federation against Ukrainian prisoners of war as fabricated accusations and sham sentences issued by Russian courts.
Another representative of the organization, who wished to remain incognito, added that in general, families of prisoners of war from time to time encounter disinformation, which is primarily related to the conditions in various places of detention, health status and the supposed place of detention of the prisoner.
Most often, such information appears in family chats, where it is impossible to ask for additional information, because it is usually transmitted through third parties and the families do not know where this or that information about their loved one came from.
After examining the most widespread Russian fakes about Ukrainian prisoners of war, we also identified the following types of disinformation campaigns:
- “The Russian Federation treats Ukrainian prisoners of war humanely.”
- “Ukraine do not want to take back its defenders from Russian captivity.”
- “Ukrainian defenders are surrendering more frequently due to low morale or in response to Trump’s victory.”
- “Foreign mercenaries or NATO soldiers are fighting on behalf of Ukraine.”
- “Ukrainians torture Russian prisoners, not the other way around.”
- “Ukrainian military hides/drives Russian prisoners to demine areas during attacks.”
Fake 1
“The Russian Federation treats Ukrainian prisoners of war humanely”
Проект Хочу жить
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Проект Хочу жить
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Проект Хочу жить
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Костянтин Ліберов для Getty Images
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Костянтин Ліберов для Getty Images
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Russian agitprop is spreading disinformation about “Russia’s compliance with the Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.” Stop Fake wrote about such attempts by Russian propaganda to whitewash its army.
In April 2024, Russian media outlets, including RIA Novosti, claimed that ‘Russia treats Ukrainian prisoners humanely’ and that ‘Ukrainians are surprised by the good treatment they receive in Russian captivity.’
However, this information is refuted by the report of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. Experts emphasize that torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners by the Russians is very widespread and a common phenomenon.
96%
Ukrainian prisoners of war have been subjected to abuse while in Russian captivity, based on the report from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
65%
Ukrainian prisoners — 39 out of 60 interviewed — were subjected to sexual violence or threats of such violence by Russians.
In addition, the Kremlin narrative is refuted by the data of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, according to which 268 executions of Ukrainian defenders in Russian captivity have been investigated since 2022. At the same time, in 2024, videos appeared online almost every month in which Russian soldiers executed (shooting, cutting into pieces, etc.) Ukrainian prisoners of war.
If in 2023, 11 prisoners were executed on the battlefield, then in 2024 – 149. Over the months of this year, more than 51 have already been executed, – a source, the head of the Department for Counteracting Crimes Committed in Armed Conflict, the Prosecutor General’s Office, Yuriy Belousov, told Ukrinform in a comment.
Fake 2:
“Ukraine do not want to take back its defenders from Russian captivity”
The history of fake claims that Ukraine allegedly does not want to bring back its citizens from Russian captivity is long. The Russians regularly resort to this tactic.
One of the most well-known and recent examples occurred in early 2024. A number of pro-Russian Telegram channels, including “Joker DNR,” “Sheikh Tamir,” “Mriya,” “Colonelcassad,” and others, spread lists of Ukrainian prisoners of war that Ukraine supposedly refuses to take back. This was reported by Gvara Media.
The propagandists claimed that the list had been sent to them by representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), who were allegedly outraged by the authorities’ inaction and their “competitors” in the Main Intelligence Directorate (MID).
This information was quickly denied by Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
The headquarters also stated that they are continuing negotiations to release all prisoners and are ready for an “all-for-all” exchange. They emphasized that negotiations are ongoing, and new exchanges are being prepared. These statements were confirmed by further prisoner exchanges that took place in 2024.
Another similar fake narrative claimed that Ukrainian representatives had allegedly lied about the number of Ukrainian prisoners of war exchanged on January 3, 2024.
According to Russian Telegram channels, the Russian Federation allegedly offered a 300-for-300 exchange, but Ukraine supposedly refused.
The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine also denied this claim. In addition, this can be confirmed by lists of released prisoners.
In 2023, the Russian Federation also resorted to spreading similar disinformation. At that time, the so-called ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova stated that the Ukrainian side did not express a desire to take back 70 Ukrainian prisoners of war during the exchange that took place on March 7.
The Russian Ombudsman is not a subject of negotiations during exchanges, — the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War explained.
But the list published by Moskalkova also includes those servicemen who have actually been released from captivity. Therefore, it cannot be reliable.
4757
Ukrainian defenders have returned since February 24, 2022
>8 000
Ukrainian defenders remain in Russian captivity
>208
Ukrainian defenders died while attempting to surrender
>268
Ukrainian defenders executed in captivity (including in Olenivka)
*Data as of May 2025
Фейк 3:
“Ukrainian defenders are surrendering more frequently due to low morale or in response to Trump’s victory”
One of the main sources of this narrative was the pro-Russian Telegram channel “Legitimny.” It claimed: “The main threat to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, given the low morale, is the risk of mass surrenders. Bankova [the President’s Office] is trying to prevent soldiers from surrendering by releasing fake videos of Russians allegedly executing captured Ukrainians, supposedly filmed by drones. But everyone understands this is staged.”
Morale is difficult to measure empirically, but the videos of Ukrainian defenders being executed by Russian forces are real and verified.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has authenticated each of these videos and opened criminal investigations accordingly.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, confirmed the executions, citing data from the Prosecutor General’s Office. Yuriy Belousov, head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in Armed Conflict, reported that Ukraine has recorded more than 208 cases of Russian soldiers shooting surrendering Ukrainian servicemen. The total number of executed POWs is 268.
Thus, the narrative pushed by “Legitimny” is, at best, a manipulation, and at worst — a calculated element of Russia’s information-psychological warfare.
As Ukrinform wrote, this narrative was echoed by Russian media outlets, including Arguments and Facts and the Telegram channel Kot Kostyan. On November 11, 2024, they began spreading claims that Ukrainian soldiers were surrendering eight times more frequently after Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.
Their source? A post on the social network X by an alleged Irish journalist, Chey Bowes.
Bowes claimed that after Trump’s win, Ukrainian troops began surrendering in droves. He supported this claim with a photo allegedly showing captured Ukrainian soldiers.
However, a simple fact-check would have revealed several issues. First, Chey Bowes is not a journalist but a Russian propagandist working for the Kremlin’s state media outlet, Russia Today.
Secondly, the photo he used as evidence is not what it seems. A reverse image search on Google reveals that the photo does not depict Ukrainian soldiers surrendering but rather Russian soldiers. In fact, it is a photo of Andriy Biletsky, the founder and first commander of Azov, taken back in August 2022.
The propagandists further supported their narrative with a video of alleged mass surrenders. While the video does show Ukrainian soldiers, it was filmed in March 2022, during the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, not after Trump’s election victory.
Fake 4:
“Foreign mercenaries or NATO soldiers are fighting on behalf of Ukraine”
“American mercenaries”
Pro-Russian Telegram channels, particularly Kali Yuga 2.0 and Ukraine.ru, have been actively spreading narratives about alleged foreign mercenaries fighting in the Kursk region.
To support their claims, they used photos from the Instagram account of Forward Observations Group (FOG), an American company specializing in security consulting and tactical training, as well as a brand of military equipment.
The creators of the fake narrative posted the following: “American mercenaries have confirmed their participation in the occupation of the Kursk region. On the Instagram page of the Forward Observations Group PMC (banned in Russia), Western military personnel are posing next to an armored HMMWV vehicle as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces invasion group. The geolocation indicates the Kursk region, and the caption reads: ‘The boys in Kursk.’ In the center of the photo is FOG founder Derrick Bales.”
Fact-check
A reverse image search revealed that the photo was taken by Ukrainian photojournalist Vyacheslav Ratynskyi for The Telegraph. It was captured in the Sumy region, not Kursk, and published in an article titled “Ukraine has seized more land in a week than Russia in eight months” (August 14, 2024).
The image shows Ukrainian troops, not foreign mercenaries. Russian propagandists simply repurposed the image days after its publication.
“French mercenaries”
Russian propagandists don’t limit themselves to fabricating stories about Americans. They have also targeted the French. In response to President Emmanuel Macron’s statements about potentially sending French troops to Ukraine, Russian Telegram channels and the Russian Embassy in South Africa spread a video claiming that Russian forces had captured a “French citizen” fighting for Ukraine.
The French Embassy in South Africa quickly debunked the video. The primary giveaway? The “captive” had a non-native French accent.
“We suggest that your actors take French language lessons at the Alliance Française to improve their accent,” — the embassy quipped.
Why Does Russia Create These Stories?
The goal of such disinformation is twofold: 1) To intimidate Ukraine’s allies by implying their soldiers are dying in Ukraine.
2) To deceive the Russian population into believing they are fighting not Ukraine, but the “collective West.”
At the same time, Russian propaganda deliberately misrepresents the role of foreigners serving in Ukraine. They label members of Ukraine’s International Legion as “mercenaries” to undermine their legitimacy.
In reality, foreigners who enlist in the Armed Forces of Ukraine receive the same compensation as Ukrainian citizens, according to Article 21-3 of the Law of Ukraine on Military Duty and Military Service. Those who do not sign military contracts may join volunteer battalions, motivated by ideology, not financial gain — which disqualifies them from the legal definition of “mercenaries.”
Fake 5:
“Ukrainians torture Russians in captivity, not the other way around”
The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine previously reported a surge of fake content targeting the Ukrainian Armed Forces. One particularly prominent example was a video supposedly showing Ukrainian soldiers tying a captured Russian soldier to a metal chair and torturing him with electric shocks.
The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine found out that a number of Russian “military personnel” received an offer to publish it from anonymous users in personal messages. However, due to the obvious staged nature of the video, even the most dedicated propagandists refused to post this low-quality fake on their resources and ridiculed it.
The Center for Countering Disinformation also reported on the distribution of other videos, where a captured Russian, also allegedly tied to the iron legs of a bed, is being mocked and shocked. In this way, Russian propaganda tried to discredit Ukrainians and intimidate their military so that they would not surrender.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) also refuted Russian fakes. As the service explained, such videos usually appeared in public forums that are directly managed by the Russian special services or the Ministry of Defense.
Their goal: to shift the emphasis and try to convince that it is the Ukrainian military that is allegedly mocking the prisoners. In addition, to intimidate their soldiers so that they do not surrender.
Back in March 2022, the hacker group Anonymous warned about the preparation of such staged materials. They even released a leaked copy of a directive from the Russian Ministry of Defense ordering the production of fake videos.
In reality, each time prisoners are exchanged, the abuse inflicted on Ukrainian POWs is confirmed by medical examinations. In an interview with Vikna, Olena Tolkachova described how doctors often cry when they see the physical and psychological condition of returned fighters.
Sometimes our doctors would simply leave the room — they couldn’t believe such things could be done to another human being. Even the male doctors cried..
Fake 6:
“Ukrainian military is taking cover/driving Russian prisoners to demine territories during attacks”
At the same time, the Center for Countering Disinformation (CPD) also documented a video circulated by enemy sources, which allegedly showed Ukrainian forces using Russian POWs to clear minefields.
The video contains disinformation features: unknown terrain, lack of faces, deliberate concealment of shooting footage, the CPD explains.
The video is also fake because the Ukrainian soldiers are supposedly wearing black shoes. In fact, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are provided with shoes of a different color. And another nuance gives away the Russian propagandists – the green ribbon on the legs of the “military”. After all, Ukrainian defenders do not wear ribbons on their legs.
In addition, the Center for Countering Disinformation reported on a case when Russian propagandists allegedly distributed a video interview of a Russian soldier who “escaped” from Ukrainian captivity.
All these cases indicate that this is another fake by the Russian propaganda to demonize the Armed Forces of Ukraine and accuse the Ukrainian military of violating the Geneva Convention.
In fact, it was the soldiers of the occupying army who were noticed in such violations of the Geneva Conventions. Thus, in December 2023, the Zaporizhzhia OVA reported that, hiding behind prisoners of war as a “human shield,” the Russians attacked the positions of the Ukrainian defenders. Criminal proceedings were initiated for the fact of violation of the laws and customs of war (Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The basis for this was the video material that was distributed on the Internet by Radio Liberty journalists.
Whenever Russia accuses Ukrainian troops of a certain crime — it’s often because Russia itself is already committing it.
Ukrainian/Russian prisoner of war
Ukrainian/Russian prisoner of war
Ukrainian/Russian prisoner of war
How and why the Russia uses fake news against Ukraine
The Russian Federation actively uses fakes in its war against Ukraine and invests significant resources in their production and further distribution. The goal of such actions is to form a comfortable or at least neutral reality for Russia.
Yaroslav Teleshun says that this reality should be positively perceived within the country, and at the same time be acceptable to third countries that have not decided on their position on the Russian war against Ukraine and would prefer to maintain their “neutral” status.
At the same time, according to the political scientist, these fakes are aimed at undermining the resilience of Ukrainians and the unity of our allies against the backdrop of escalation.
According to political scientist Yaroslav Teleshun, Russian propaganda factories pursue a wide range of goals — from discrediting public figures and soldiers to reshaping Ukraine’s historical and cultural identity.
In the long run, such systematic substitution of cultural narratives can erode national identity itself.
What impact do fakes about POWs have on society and the families of defenders?
According to the Olenivka Community, by constantly projecting a distorted version of captivity, Russian propagandists succeed in planting seeds of doubt in society — even among people who support Ukraine. Some begin to question whether the Ukrainian government is telling the full truth.
But everyone can play a part in resisting this disinformation.
How to fight fakes and disinformation about ukrainian prisoners
Oleksandra Mazur believes that effective work by state institutions and international organizations is key. From the experience of many members of the Olenivka Community, families often don’t receive any information about their loved ones from official bodies or humanitarian organizations — which leaves them confused and isolated.
In Ukraine, there are many structures that collect information about prisoners and must properly contact their relatives – these are the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Joint Center for the Search and Release of Prisoners of War, the National Information Bureau, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
However, how these institutions gather data, apart from reports from families and released defenders, remains unclear.
As for international organizations, the Russians deny them access to detention facilities — which makes it nearly impossible to independently verify conditions or obtain reliable updates.
The Olenivka Community suggests that the UN and ICRC should publicly condemn Russia’s violations of international humanitarian law.
Alternatively, Ukrainian state agencies, human rights defenders, and civil society groups should call on the world to stop donating to these organizations until they fulfill their obligations regarding prisoners of war.
We understand that this cannot be achieved in the short term, but for our part, we are already trying to do it as much as possible.
Russian occupiers relentlessly fuel both their machinery of propaganda and torture. That’s why the fight for Ukrainian prisoners, trapped in the bloody grip of the Russian regime, must remain a daily concern — not only for the families of our defenders, but for every conscious individual around the world. Because every minute in captivity might be their last.