Ukrainian journalist Anastasiia Hlukhovska has spent almost three years in Russian captivity, at one point going on hunger strike
Ukrainian journalist Anastasiia Hlukhovska, who was abducted by Russian security forces in temporarily occupied Melitopol in August 2023, is being held in a pre-trial detention centre in the town of Kizel in Russia's Perm Krai. At one point she went on a hunger strike.
Source: RIA-Pivden, a local media outlet; Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, chair of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech
Details: RIA-Pivden has reported, citing Hlukhovska's relatives and testimony from former prisoners, that she went on a hunger strike after being transferred from Taganrog to Kizel.
Journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity, was also transferred to this detention centre.
Quote from Hlukhovska's sister: "The rules in this prison are very strict. Prisoners are not allowed to sit or lie down in their cells during the day. Because of this, Anastasiia's chronic condition, endometriosis, has been compounded by problems with swelling in her legs. A prisoner who was recently exchanged said he saw Anastasiia in the yard while the grounds were being cleaned. In general, men and women are held separately there. But that day everyone was taken outside. He saw Nastia. She is alive, and that's the main thing.
Another prisoner said Nastia works in the sewing workshop at the Russian pre-trial detention centre. She once went on a hunger strike, but it is not known why. After the Russians tortured the journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna to death, and Yevhen Matvieiev, the mayor of [the Ukrainian town of] Dniprorudne, inspections began at the detention centre. After that, the prisoners were even given bedding and better food."
More details: Hlukhovska has been held without charge for 2 years and 10 months. On 20 August 2023, Russian security forces carried out a raid in Russian-occupied Melitopol.
According to RIA-Pivden, the Russians abducted and detained not only Hlukhovska but also Heorhii Levchenko, an administrator at RIA Melitopol, a local Telegram channel, and the administrators of a Telegram chat called "Melitopol is Ukraine". They were later accused of cooperating with Ukrainian intelligence and sentenced to between 14 and 26 years in prison.
RIA-Pivden reported, citing information obtained from an interview with a former prisoner, a woman who was deported from Melitopol by the Russians, that Hlukhovska had initially been held in a storage building at the Ruslan Komplekt plant. The woman said she had been tortured there with electric shocks. Hlukhovska was later held at the Pryazovske pre-trial detention centre before being transferred to a pre-trial detention centre in Taganrog, Russia.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn said it is virtually impossible for Hlukhovska to be included on a prisoner exchange list because Russia does not admit that it is holding civilians.
Quote from Yurchyshyn: "Anastasiia has been held behind bars in the town of Kizel, Perm Krai, Russia, since 2025. This is the same prison where the Russians killed Viktoriia Roshchyna and Yevhen Matvieiev, the mayor of Dniprorudne. You will remember that Vika also went on a hunger strike. It ended in her horrific death in captivity...
It is virtually impossible for Anastasiia Hlukhovska to be included on an exchange list. Russia simply does not admit that it is holding her captive because it does not want to acknowledge that it imprisons civilians. Russia has already killed two Ukrainian civilians in this detention centre, and the list may get longer.
The only way forward is publicity and global pressure on Russia. I urge our international partners to get involved and do everything possible to ensure that Anastasiia and our other media workers are released."
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