Three years in Russian captivity: Anastasiia Hlukhovska still cut off from her family
Today, 20 August, marks three years since Russian security forces detained journalist Anastasiia Hlukhovska in occupied Melitopol. Russia has held her effectively incommunicado ever since, with no contact with the outside world, no means of communicating with her lawyers, family and no official confirmation of her whereabouts. A ZMINA correspondent spoke to the journalist’s sister.
Anastasiia Hlukhovska. Photo provided by the journalist’s familyAccording to Hlukhovska’s sister, Diana, the latest information about the journalist came from released Ukrainian captives. In early summer, they said they had seen her at the Pre-trial Detention Centre No. 3 in Kyzyl, Republic of Tyva. They were able to identify her from photos. According to the released captives, Hlukhovska works in the detention centre’s sewing workshop and shares a cell with another woman. They also said that she had sought medical attention at the prison infirmary because of pain in her legs, a common problem among those held at the detention centre.
The released captives also reported that conditions at the detention centre had improved somewhat in recent months, particularly the food and medical care. They said that legal advisers had also begun visiting detainees to provide legal advice. One former captive saw Hlukhovska while cleaning the pre-trial detention centre grounds.
“That is all I currently know about her health. They said Nastia looked relatively well: she had not been beaten, had not lost too much weight and did not appear ill. But this information comes only from people who have seen her. No charges have yet been brought against her. They are simply holding her and pretending they do not have her”, Diana told ZMINA.
The Russian authorities have still not officially informed Hlukhovska’s family of her whereabouts or legal status. Information about her detention reaches the family only through people returning from Russian captivity. She has now been held incommunicado for three years.
According to her sister, Hlukhovska’s case has been regularly raised at international events over the past three years. Representatives of journalists’ organisations, her colleagues and Svitlana Zalizetska, editor-in-chief of the news agency RIA-Pivden, where Hlukhovska previously worked, have continued to speak about her case. Diana stressed that she was grateful to journalists and human rights organisations for keeping it in the public eye. She believes that public campaigns alone were insufficient without a state mechanism for bringing civilian hostages home.
“You can broadcast videos on television around the clock and publish 50,000 articles a day, but there is still no functioning mechanism for exchanging civilian detainees. Civilians have been captured since 2014, and there are many thousands of them. We do not even know the exact number, yet the state has still not established a formal legal procedure for their exchange”, Diana said.
According to Diana, civilians are released far less frequently than prisoners of war are exchanged, and third countries are involved in such efforts. Hlukhovska’s sister believes that appropriate state mechanisms and international mediation are needed to bring civilians home on a systematic basis. Diana also emphasised the importance of keeping Hlukhovska’s case in the public eye. She believes that public attention can help ensure that the journalist is not forgotten and show the Russian authorities that people are still waiting for her return.
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“I am deeply grateful to every person who speaks about this and to every journalist. Public attention matters. At the very least, it could bring us closer to the moment when word of Nastia reaches those holding her, and they realise that she must be returned. But without action [by Ukraine], I could spend another three years waiting, while Nastia could spend another three years waiting to be released”, the journalist’s sister said.
The pre-trial Detention Centre No. 33 in Kyzyl remains the journalist’s last known place of detention. The facility has also been linked to the detention of other Ukrainian civilians, including journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna and Yevhen Matvieiev, the mayor of Dniprorudne, both of whom died in Russian captivity.
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ZMINA previously reported that after Hlukhovska was deported from Ukraine and then transferred from Taganrog, the occupation authorities shaved her head, and she went on a hunger strike.
ZMINA has also previously published a detailed account of journalist Anastasiia Hlukhovska’s story.
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