Ukraine Survivors: Finding My Abusers
BBC Eye talks to Ukrainians civilians abused in Russian-occupied Ukraine and tracks down the prison guards, officials and soldiers likely responsible.
Since 2014 when Russia occupied parts of Ukraine, escalating with the full-scale invasion in 2022, thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been held illegally, some for years, in Russian-run detention centres.
Many were subjected to torture and conflict-related sexual violence - like Liudmyla Huseinova, wrongly detained in the notorious Isolyatsia prison in Donetsk.
This film tells Liudmyla’s story, the story of other survivors, and their search for justice. Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine are beyond the rule of law; international bodies have no free access. Ukrainian prosecutors have only been able to bring to trial a handful of individuals for war crimes, and none for sexual violence.
In this investigation, survivors working with BBC Eye track down apparently ordinary men - guards, officials and soldiers - who likely abused them.
The investigation also exposes the scale of the Russian-run detention network; BBC Eye has verified the existence of 92 detention centres in Russian-occupied Ukraine, and 102 detention centres in Russia where Ukrainian civilians are kept.
The Russian authorities have denied UN allegations that their forces engage in systemic conflict-related sexual violence.
