War in Ukraine: 40 kilos lost, beatings from morning to evening, a Ukrainian soldier recounts the hell of Russian prisons

Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov est passé de 95 à 57 kilos en l'espace de 20 mois dans une prison russe. Capture d'écran Twitter

Capturé par la Russie en avril 2022, Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov, un soldat ukrainien, a partagé les photos de son évolution, après sa libération le mois dernier.

Former amateur musician turned soldier, Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov was captured on April 12, 2022 by the Russian armed forces. While he had spent several weeks in a non-combatant unit in a barracks near Donetsk, it was surrounded by the Russian army.

Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov tried to escape but was captured and then transferred to an unknown location in Russia, reports Svoi City.

Beatings all day long

Upon arrival with the other inmates, Russian guards greet them with: "Welcome to hell& quot;. Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov tells Svoi City that the floors of the cells were no longer even visible as so many detainees were crowded inside.

This is the beginning of the horror. Cells without windows, hands tied, stale bread, very little water… The worst ? blows all day long in the kidneys, back, chest, head , arms, legs all with torture instruments like batons, straps with metal inserts or even electroshocks.

Before his capture, the former musician weighed 95 kg and was 1m91 tall. In the interview with Svoi City, he shared terrifying photos of his evolution during his 20 months of captivity in Russia. Upon his release, Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov weighed only 57 kg. 

During this time, his weight decreased to 57 kilograms. In the month that Volodymyr has been at home, doctors have diagnosed him with many diseases, some of which have progressed to the chronic stage. pic.twitter.com/Yo8ZF00gHm

— Olena_Wave🇺🇦 (@OlenaWave) February 10, 2024

Health "much worse than what I'm' was waiting"

He explains, however, that he never lost hope. Finally, a recent exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia will allow him to be freed from this hell. Last month, he was able to return home to Ukraine where he is being treated in several medical institutions in the Poltava region.

This is what #Russians did to Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov after 20 months in captivity. I can't even fathom the suffering endured by him and countless other POWs. #RussianAggression #RussiaIsATerroristState pic.twitter.com/jx8YUtn3al

— Inna Sovsun (@InnaSovsun) February 10, 2024

He notably spoke of terrible detention conditions and the many after-effects that resulted from them: " My health is much worse than I expected. (…) I have, as they say, a whole bouquet of diseases, including chronic gastritis in the acute stage, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a disease of the digestive system human, chronic prostatitis in remission… ", confides Volodymyr to Svoi City.