Russian guards were ordered to torture Ukrainian POWs from the early weeks of the invasion — WSJ

Photo: Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov

In the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prison administrations were instructed to torture Ukrainian soldiers taken captive, The Wall Street Journal has learned from former FSIN (Federal Penitentiary Service) employees. According to their accounts, Major General Igor Potapenko, head of FSIN in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, passed on the directive to an elite unit of prison guards assigned to oversee the influx of prisoners of war, saying: “Be cruel, don’t pity them.”

As WSJ uncovered, Potapenko convened a meeting of this “special unit,” where he laid out new rules for handling Ukrainian POWs. The usual regulations were abolished, and restrictions on violence were lifted. The body cameras typically worn by FSIN officers were removed. The guards were ordered to work in rotating shifts, switching every four weeks.

Similar instructions were issued to special units across other Russian regions, including the Republic of Buryatia, Moscow, and Pskov. Soon after the start of the invasion, the torture chambers became fully operational. Guards used electric shock devices until the batteries were drained. Beatings were inflicted with the intent to cause maximum harm. “Experiments” were carried out with various materials in order to determine which one inflicted the most pain. Prisoners were denied medical care, leading to cases of gangrene and amputations.

Three officials the WSJ interviewed —two special forces officers and a member of a medical team — have been placed in a witness protection program after testifying before investigators from the International Criminal Court. The two special forces officers said that they left the prison service before being compelled to participate in torture but remained in contact with colleagues who stayed.

According to WSJ, FSIN special units do not operate permanently in specific prisons. Instead, they work as a “praetorian guard,” called in to suppress riots, conduct searches, and handle high-risk prisoners. When dealing with Ukrainian POWs, these units coordinated with local prison staff, assuming total control over their actions. Two former guards testified that they interpreted Potapenko's order, given at a March 2022 meeting, as a blank slate for violence. One admitted that the abuse of Ukrainians reached a new level, as the guards were certain that they enjoyed full approval from their superiors.

The guards always patrolled in balaclavas, and prisoners were beaten for the slightest eye contact. One former FSIN officer explained that these measures, along with monthly rotations of special units, were designed to prevent identification of both the guards and their superiors. Electric shock devices were used so frequently — particularly in the showers — that batteries ran out too quickly, according to former prison staff.

A medical worker from FSIN in the Voronezh Region described how guards beat prisoners until their rubber batons broke. When batons became unusable, they switched to insulated boiler pipes. Detainees were beaten in the same spot every day, preventing wounds from healing. As a result, infections set in, blood poisoning occurred, and muscles began to rot. One prisoner died from sepsis, a former FSIN employee stated.

Pavel Afisov, captured in Mariupol in the early months of the war, was among the first Ukrainian POWs transferred to Russia. Over 2.5 years, the 25-year-old was moved from one prison to another before being released in October 2024.

He described how the worst beatings occurred during prison transfers. When he arrived in the Tver Region, he was taken to a medical room, where he was ordered to strip before being electrocuted while his head and beard were shaved. Afterward, he was forced to shout “Glory to Russia, glory to the special forces!” before being ordered to walk naked across the room while singing the national anthems of Russia and the USSR. When he responded that he did not know the words, the guards beat him again with batons and fists. After returning home, Afisov was unable to sleep for several days, fearing it was all just a dream and that he would wake up back in prison.

Another former prisoner, Andriy Yegorov, discovered after his release that he had five broken vertebrae. He recalled how, in a prison in Russia’s western Bryansk Region, captives were forced to run 100 meters down a corridor while holding a mattress over their heads. Guards lined the corridor and struck them in the ribs as they ran. Once they reached the end, prisoners had to do push-ups and squats while being beaten with each movement. “They enjoyed it, laughing among themselves while we screamed in pain,” Yehorov recalled of his captors.