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Roman Corylic is now little more than a skeleton. Her ribs and collarbones protrude, her stomach is sunken, and her shoulder and hip joints are clearly visible under her pale skin.
Korylik’s extreme emaciation appears to be the result of his two years of captivity in Russia. The former guard at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant checkpoint in northern Ukraine was arrested by Russian troops in March 2022, shortly after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
He was finally released on Friday, one of 75 Ukrainians exchanged for 75 Russian prisoners of war.
Ukraine says Russia is using “starvation torture” (Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War)
Ukrainian authorities released several photos of Korylyk, 40, on Wednesday, showing what they say his Russian captivity did to him.
“The condition of Roman and other Ukrainian prisoners of war evokes horror and associations with the darkest pages of human history – the Nazi concentration camps,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a Ukrainian government organization, said in a statement with photos published on Telegram.
Ukraine’s National Guard told CNN that all of the released prisoners suffered from weight loss, cuts and bruises, and chronic illnesses as a result of untreated injuries.
Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, said the prisoners were returned to Ukraine in “terrible” conditions. “Starvation torture is brutal, beatings and violence sophisticated,” he said in a statement published in X, accusing Russia of ignoring international treaties on human rights.
“No more Geneva Conventions…Russia once again thinks it can avoid responsibility for massive war crimes,” he added in the same publication.
CNN sought comment from the Russian Defense Ministry but did not receive a comment.
According to the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war must be treated with humanity and dignity in armed conflict and must receive a basic daily ration. Avoid weight loss or the development of nutritional deficiencies.”
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Korylik was one of 169 guards taken by occupying Russian forces and transported to Russia via Belarus. According to the same organization, 89 of these people are in prison and are being used by Moscow in exchange for Russian soldiers captured in the war.
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