WorldInside Russia’s new gulag: Ukrainian women held in a Rostov cell

Russia has seized at least 1,878 Ukrainian civilians since 2014, including at least 223 women, many allegedly subjected to torture and inhumane detention. Meduza recounts The New Yorker’s reporting on women held at Rostov pretrial detention center No. 1, including English teacher Valentina Zayarnaya, sentenced to 12 years after helping Ukrainian officer Denys Storozhuk leave occupied territory. She said investigators threatened and abused her family to obtain a confession.

Ukrainian civiliansRussian detentionRostovtorture

MMeduza★★★★☆2026-08-15 00:19Original