Inside Russia's brutal prison system where doctors and guards torture Ukrainian POWs

Ukrainian POWs detained in Russian prisons and occupied territories report a coordinated program of physical and psychological abuse known as “admission,” where guards beat them with batons, boots and stun guns. Medical personnel, including Ilya Sorokin of Penal Facility No10 in Mordovia—referred to as “Doctor Evil”—are said to supervise the cruelty, administering painful electric shocks and feigning treatment. A female doctor called “Aunt in Pink” allegedly directs guards to deliver taser shocks and sexual assaults under the guise of “electrophoresis.”

The United Nations notes that 95% of interviewed POWs were tortured, with over half describing rape, genital beating and other sexual violations. Former detainees also recount neglect and indifference from prison doctors. Ukrainian authorities, citing the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, have identified more than 300 detention sites, with thousands of soldiers still held captive.