Sverdlovsk Penal Colony No. 38

Sverdlovsk Colony No. 38 is located in the currently occupied village of Valyanivske (Leninske), which is located in the city of Dovzhansk (Sverdlovsk) in the Luhansk region. There are 12 barracks on the territory of the detention facility, three of which were used to hold prisoners of war. These premises were equipped with a cloakroom and a recreation area with a TV. According to the testimonies of those released, physical violence was rarely used in the colony.

A former POW told the Media Initiative for Human Rights that prison staff greeted them with batons in their hands, but there was almost no beating. According to him, the norms of the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of POWs would have been observed in this colony if they had been allowed to communicate with their families.

Medical care was better than in other detention facilities. A captured Ukrainian medic was allowed to set up his own office and keep medical records of the POWs. He had access to medicines and some medical supplies.

At the same time, there are reports that two prisoners died of pneumonia and stroke at the detention facility. There was also a paralyzed prisoner and another suffering from hypertension. They were taken to Luhansk for examination but were later returned to the colony.

The food in the Sverdlovsk colony was acceptable. Prisoners of war were allowed to shower once a week. They were dressed in black prison uniforms.

As for physical activity, the guards regarded any attempts to engage in physical exercise as suspicious. Exercising was prohibited.

Prisoners were voluntarily involved in work making coffins for Russian dead soldiers. According to testimony, they had to make 100 coffins per week.

Prisoners were forbidden to speak Ukrainian. They could be beaten for communicating in their native language. During roll calls, POWs were forced to listen to the anthem of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic and later the Russian anthem.

“In captivity, you have to speak only Russian. If you speak Ukrainian, you will immediately get a stick across your back: ‘Only speak Russian, speak Russian,’” Anatolii recalled this in an article for “Slidstvo.Info” after his release from captivity.