VOA Russian: Victims of Russian torture in Ukraine speak at UN 

Ukrainian Lt. Col. Ihor Benzeruk, who survived explosions at the Russian-controlled Olenivka prison two years ago, is pictured in Lyman, Ukraine, July 11, 2024. Though he survived, "this day remains as the day my comrades were executed," he said.

Ukrainians formerly imprisoned by Russia testified at the United Nations this week about the torture they were subjected to in captivity. Ukrainian journalist and activist Maxym Butkevych, who spent more than two years in a Russian prison in an occupied Ukrainian town, described how he was deprived of fresh air and sunlight, subjected to beatings and electric shocks, denied medical assistance and forced to appear in recorded videos under duress.