On the evening of April 18, 2024, Volodymyr Ushakov was walking along a forested area in the city of Enerhodar with his civil partner when armed men began running toward them and a vehicle pulled up. Volodymyr was forcibly pushed into the car and taken to an unknown location.

For five months after the abduction, the family had no contact with Volodymyr and received no information about his whereabouts. His mother immediately contacted the local police. During this period, the family also appealed to Ukrainian state authorities, international organizations, as well as to Russian investigative bodies and the so-called “law enforcement agencies” of the occupation administration. Everywhere the response was the same: there was no information about Volodymyr.

In September 2024, Volodymyr’s parents were summoned to Melitopol, where an investigator and an FSB representative questioned them about their son. After that, they were informed that Volodymyr was being held in a temporary detention facility in the city of Prymorske and was later transferred to a pre-trial detention center in Donetsk.

According to his parents, during the five months when Volodymyr’s whereabouts were unknown, he was subjected to torture: his fingernails were torn out, electric shocks were applied, he was beaten and abused, suspended by his arms for several days, cut with sharp objects, and had cigarette butts extinguished on his body. He was later tried in occupied Enerhodar.

After seven months of investigation, in April 2025 Volodymyr was sentenced in Enerhodar to six years in prison on charges of allegedly possessing an improvised explosive device. Following the verdict, on July 27, 2025, he was transferred to Penal Colony No. 2 in Berdyansk, after which contact with him was lost. As of August 2025, Volodymyr has official status as unlawfully deprived of liberty. His family is convinced that the real reason for his persecution was his position and refusal to cooperate with the occupation authorities.

The documentation of war crimes is carried out with the financial support of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC). The views and conclusions presented in this publication belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the NHC.

The organization systematically documents war crimes, works to secure the release of civilians, and supports their families.

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