Background

Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are being unlawfully detained by Russia. People are abducted in the occupied territories and held for years without any contact with their relatives or information about their condition and whereabouts; they face persecution based on fabricated charges.Unlike prisoners of war (POWs), there is no established exchange mechanism for the return of unlawfully detained civilians. Their stories often remain unnoticed by the general public.

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Goal

To amplify the voices of the families of civilian detainees, make the stories of their loved ones visible, and draw the attention of the Ukrainian public and the international community to the issue of unlawful detention of civilians by Russia.

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Benefinicaries

Ukrainian civilian detainees and their families, Ukrainian society, and the international community.

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Key Activities

Creation and development of a website featuring the stories of civilian detainees, launching a media campaign with the involvement of prominent Ukrainians, researching the experiences of families of civilian detainees, working with Ukrainian and international media, and advocacy communication with international partners.Project website: shadowsbehindbars.org.ua

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Format

• A website with the stories of civilian detainees.
• Video campaigns in which media personalities, diplomats, musicians, and cultural figures become the voices of civilian detainees in captivity.
• An anonymous study of 100 families of civilian detainees.
• Information materials for Ukrainian and international media.
• Advocacy communication with international partners.

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Results

A survey of 100 families of civilian detainees was conducted:

• 73% reported that their loved ones have been in captivity for over three years;
• 57% have no information about their condition or current whereabouts;
• 81.3% reported torture, cruel or degrading treatment.

More than 50 stories of civilian detainees have been collected and published. Dmitry Kuleba, Dasha Astafieva, Tata Kepler, Ramina Eshakzai, Ramil Nasirov (from "Kurgan & Agregat"), Solomiya Vitvitska, Yanina Sokolova, Grigoriy Reshetnik, and others joined the information campaign. The project's reach exceeded 6 million people.