Valuyki Penal Colony No. 7

Correctional Colony No. 7 in Valuyki, Belgorod Oblast, is a strict-regime facility with a capacity of 1,200 people. It holds both prisoners of war and civilians. The place of detention is located 5 km from Penal Colony No. 9, where Ukrainian female prisoners of war are held.

There are several areas on the territory: an industrial and living areas, a punishment cell, and a room for prisoners to take part in court hearings online. The buildings (‘units’) where the prisoners are held have sleeping quarters with bunk beds, toilets, showers, a rest room, and courtyards. The sections are supervised by colony staff, who are mediators between the prisoners and the prison administration.

In Penal Colony No. 7 in Valuyki, Ukrainian POWs are subjected to physical and psychological abuse. This includes beatings with rubber batons and electric shockers, which leave burn wounds. If the guards did not like something, they could punish the POW on duty or even the entire room: they beat them and forced them to do squats, sometimes 250 times.

During rare walks, colony workers set dogs on prisoners of war, and the dogs bit and tore the prisoners’ clothes.

To receive humanitarian aid, including food and clothing, Ukrainian prisoners were forced to work. However, the aid did not reach them. They wore the same clothes for several months. Walks were extremely rare. And when they did happen, the guards set dogs on the prisoners.

“The warden came and said, ‘If you work, you will receive bonuses; if not, you will be punished. So we glued shoelaces onto folders containing personal documents. Later, we found out that these bonuses were humanitarian aid, which never reached us,’ released POW Volodymyr recalled.