Shocking before and after photos show a Ukrainian soldier looking painfully thin after being freed from Russian captivity, in scenes reminiscent of liberated Nazi camps.
When Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov, 41, was captured by invading Russian forces 20 months ago, he weighed just 95kg.
But gruesome photos taken after his release last month as part of a prisoner swap show what could be mistaken for photos from a World War II Nazi death camp.
Volodymyr, who is 1.80 meters tall, has lost almost half his body weight and now weighs just 57 kg. His skeletal body is so thin that every rib can be counted and his painfully fleshless arms hang down like pipe cleaners.
He is being treated for multiple medical problems caused by his famine. Volodymyr said: ‘My health is much worse than I expected.
Horrific photos (above) taken after Volodymyr’s release last month as part of a prisoner exchange show what could be mistaken for photos from a World War II Nazi death camp
When Volodymyr Tsema-Bursov, 41, was captured by invading Russian forces 20 months ago, he weighed just 95kg (pictured)
Volodymyr, who is 1.80 meters tall, has lost almost half his body weight and now weighs just 57 kg. His skeletal body is so thin that every rib can be counted and his painfully fleshless arms hang down like pipe cleaners
“I have, as they say, a “whole bouquet” of diseases, including chronic gastritis in an acute stage, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a disease of the human digestive system, chronic prostatitis in remission , etc .’
His wife Inna, 34, said: ‘I want people to see what is being done to our prisoners of war in Russian prisons.’
Volodymyr was serving with Ukraine’s 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade when he was captured on April 12, 2022.
According to local media reports, he was arrested after Ukrainian troops surrounded the Ilyich Metallurgical Plant in Mariupol.
He was subsequently held in a series of detention centers in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine, as well as in Russia and was also reportedly subjected to torture.
Russian soldiers reportedly beat and abused their prisoners and when Volodymyr was released, he was so confused that he did not even realize he was back in Ukraine.
The first stop after being captured was the infamous Olenivka Barracks, where soldiers allegedly tried to “break” prisoners of war.
“We were met by a Jack Booted thug,” he said. ‘Each of us says our surname, first name and patronymic and runs through a ‘walkway’ to the barracks.
‘Three men on the left, the same number of people on the right. Each of them had a ‘working tool’ in his hands: a club or rubber stick.
‘Others had something like a cutting board or a belt with metal inserts. They’re all trying to hit you as hard as possible.’
The last man jumped up and kicked you in the gut. He hit so hard that almost everyone fell over.’
The prisoners were reportedly forced to remove items of clothing and go through the same process again. “Many of the men were hit in the kidneys,” Volodymyr said.
In Sukhodolsk, also in the invaded territory of Ukraine, ‘they took me to the cell, and there were two of them.
“And one of them said: “According to our information, you are a (military) instructor in the Azov regiment.”
His wife Inna (left, pictured with Volodymyr), 34, said: ‘I want people to see what is being done to our prisoners of war in Russian prisons’
Volodymyr was even a musician in Mariupol and on cruise ships and was recruited into the military orchestra just before the war in 2020.
‘I replied that this information was far from the truth. But they didn’t believe me,” he said. ‘And the throbbing started on my legs, chest and stomach. Accusations and blows. Then apparently they got tired of it.
“They said, if you’re a musician and we bring a guitar, can you play it? ‘Well, of course I’m going to play,’ I told them.’
He was later moved to an unspecified location in Russia. He said: ‘When we arrived one of the boys asked the guards where we were. And in response the voice says, “Welcome to hell!”
They were allegedly forced to their knees and elbows, undressed and washed with cold water.
“All this was accompanied by beatings – with sticks, clubs, cutting boards and shockers,” Volodymyr said. ‘Then they took fingerprints. And again, the blows, they hit wherever they could: back, chest, head, arms, legs.”