Forced to kneel to receive medication: former Ukrainian prisoners describe torture and humiliation at the hands of Russian medics

A new report has detailed the torture and humiliation that Ukrainians held in Russian captivity are subjected to by Russian doctors and nurses. Former prisoners have described how they were denied medical treatment, stunned with tasers, and ordered to kneel down to receive medication.

Source: "Anatomy of Torture: Testimonies of Torture and Ill-Treatment by Medical Personnel in Russian Captivity", a report published by the Center for Civil Liberties and the Military Medics of Ukraine NGO

Details: "Testimonies from Ukrainians who survived Russian captivity indicate that violations of the right to medical care are not isolated incidents, but part of a systemic practice of withholding medical assistance by the Russian authorities," the report states.

"In many instances, medical personnel are directly involved in acts of torture and ill-treatment."

One testimony describes the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners at Kursk pre-trial detention centre No. 1, where detainees were forced to stand in an "examination position" during inspections.

"At every inspection, we could speak to a doctor... During the inspection, we stood stretched out in the so-called 'examination position'. A young female medical professional, about 22 or 23 years old, would walk around saying she would 'pierce our heels' or: 'I'd kill them myself... I hate them.'

Although the medical staff changed frequently, no medical employee showed even a hint of humanity. Only pure hatred."

Another testimony came from pre-trial detention centre No. 2 in Stary Oskol, where a Ukrainian prisoner was denied treatment for a fungal infection for over a year.

"One of our guys in... Stary Oskol suffered from a fungal infection that started... on his leg... and then spread to his face and neck. That's how big the infected area was.

But during the entire time I was there – 16 or 17 months – ... not a single medical worker helped him at all. He was tortured by this disease for over a year... And it wasn't one doctor who did this; it was the entire healthcare service at the detention centre."

Former prisoners also described abuse at penal colony No. 10 in the Russian Republic of Mordovia, where a taser was applied to injured areas of detainees' bodies.

"In Mordovia there was Doctor Evil, and it was horrific.

He tortured people more than any other staff member and was the only one who carried a taser... In my cell there was an officer... with a hip joint condition. He couldn't stand upright for long... He'd come out with us for the morning inspection, and the medical staff would apply the taser to the very joint that was hurting so that he'd 'get over it' faster."

Journalists have identified the doctor who tortured Ukrainian prisoners in Mordovia as 34-year-old Ilya Sorokin.

Prisoners also described abuse by a medic they nicknamed "the lady in pink" at pre-trial detention centre No. 2 in Stary Oskol.

"There was a female doctor or paramedic in Oskol. We called her 'the lady in pink' because she mostly wore pink... She would say: 'This one gets the taser; this one gets electrophoresis on the knee so it heals faster.' In other words, she would direct the special forces officers, who carried out her orders. 'Electrophoresis' was what she called tasering an area that was painful.

If you had a headache, they would shock you on the buttocks or genitals because it hurts more there."

Former prisoners also described humiliating treatment at penal colony No. 10 in Mordovia, where detainees would have to kneel in order to receive medication.

"Receiving medicines started with the order: 'On your knees!'

If you didn't kneel, you wouldn't get the medicine. If you knelt incorrectly or opened your mouth the wrong way, and he didn't throw the pills into your mouth as if you were a dog, then you wouldn't get any medicine either."

Background: In September 2025, the UN published testimonies from Ukrainian civilians who had been held in captivity in Russia.

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