Pensioner Oleksandr Pluzhnyk, abducted by Russian soldiers in the Kharkiv Oblast, is held in the Voronezh region

Russian forces abducted Oleksandr Pluzhnyk, a resident of the village of Novoiehorivka in the Kharkiv region, on 6 February 2023. The 71-year-old man was first unlawfully held in Stary Oskol in Russia’s Belgorod region before being transferred to Borisoglebsk in the Voronezh region, his niece Antonina ZMINA.

Oleksandr Pluzhnyk. Photo provided by the family

After occupying the village of Novoiehorivka in the Kharkiv Oblast, located near the border with Russia, Russian forces periodically carried out searches of local residents. Pluzhnyk’s home was also searched from time to time, but they had no accusations against him. This was because neither he nor his relatives had any connection to the military. He had never possessed any weapons.

Antonina learned from her uncle’s wife that on 6 February 2023, Oleksandr was speaking to his son on the phone outside his home. At that moment, Russian soldiers approached him and said that all phone calls were prohibited.

“He swore at them in response, and we have not seen him since. Neighbours later told his wife about this“, his niece says.

Some time later, Russian forces came to his wife’s apartment and told her that Oleksandr was being held in a basement, but did not specify where. They said they had come to take a winter jacket for him. During the visit, they also confiscated her phone.

“They told her: ‘Give us a jacket, because it’s cold for him in the basement while we transfer him.’ The Russians, who did not identify themselves, did not tell his wife where they were taking him“, Antonina noted.

A few days later, the occupiers returned to his wife’s apartment, this time to carry out a search. They took Oleksandr’s passport and tax ID number.

After that, the woman went to the Russian military headquarters to find out where her husband was. She was told he would be held for a few days and then released.

Antonina believes her uncle may have been held in a school basement where the Russians had a “headquarters”. According to her, many local residents were unlawfully held there alongside Oleksandr. Later, all the detainees were transferred to an unknown location.

“They were clearly taken away at night so no one would see. Later, Russia confirmed that my uncle was in Russian captivity. I was also sent a letter from Oleksandr via a messaging app, written in his own hand. In it, he said he was alive and fine“, Antonina noted.

In her search for her uncle, she contacted Kateryna Osadcha’s project “Find Your Own”, where she was given a list of detainees that included Oleksandr’s name. However, no information about his place of detention was provided.

Antonina was later contacted by a former detainee who said she had been held in a “detention camp” with Oleksandr. She did not specify the location, as she had been taken there blindfolded.

The former detainee said that Ukrainians from the Kupiansk and Dvorichna Districts, Kharkiv Oblast, were unlawfully held in the Russian prison. Men and women were held together in the same cells, and the men were fingerprinted.

“The camp was located in a field, apparently in the Belgorod region. There were people from villages such as Tavilzhanka, Vilshana, Novoiehorivka, Hrakove, Terny and Berestove. The cells had bars. They were taken out for walks in groups for 20–30 minutes. All Russian soldiers wore masks all the time. In addition to civilians, military personnel were also held there and tortured separately“, the woman said.

The former detainee added that in February 2023 they were constantly tortured and abused. From March that year, Russian forces stopped torturing detainees but instead forced the detainees to work in the kitchen and clean the camp.

“She said that at that time Oleksandr’s health was stable“, his niece said.

According to the former detainee, the Russians provided prisoners with a “medical kit” from which they took the medicines they needed. They were fed once a day with Russian military rations. Anyone who failed to eat within the allocated time went hungry.

Many of the civilians were women with children, who were fed twice a day.

“Women were threatened with execution if they did not leave within an hour. They were taken outside the camp and released, after which they had to make their own way home“, Antonina says.

There were no sinks or toilets in the cells, so all unlawfully detained prisoners were escorted to the toilet when needed.

In 2024, Antonina learned from a released detainee that Oleksandr had been held in Stary Oskol in Russia’s Belgorod region. He was later transferred to Borisoglebsk in the Voronezh region, where he is currently being held.

The Human Rights Centre ZMINA, along with Ukrainian and international partners, documents enforced disappearances, detentions, and abductions of civilians in the temporarily occupied territories. If your relatives have gone missing or you fear they may have been abducted, please contact us at ys@zmina.ua. Our representative will get in touch with you.

The information provided, subject to the applicant’s consent, will be used in submissions to national and international investigative bodies, as well as to international organisations for inclusion in periodic reports, including the UN Committee against Torture, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the International Criminal Court, and others, to support the documentation and investigation of war crimes committed in Ukraine and help bring those responsible to justice.

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