Journalist Held in Russian Captivity Endures Severe Torture

October 23, 2025 – Russia – 

Ukrainian journalist Anastasiia Hlukhovska has reportedly been held by Russian authorities for over two years without formal charges while enduring brutal treatment, an investigation by Slidstvo.Info revealed. On 20 August 2023, Hlukhovska was taken from her apartment in Melitopol by officers of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), who seized her electronic equipment and institutional records. Nevertheless, Russian authorities later claimed they had no information about her detention.

Sources interviewed by Slidstvo.Info, including a fellow detainee who shared a cell with Hlukhovska in a basement facility at the “Ruslan-Komplekt” enterprise in Melitopol, describe extreme abuse. The witness stated that Hlukhovska was repeatedly subjected to electric shocks–“you could hear her screams”—-and lay incapacitated under constant guard supervision. Subsequent evidence indicates she was transferred to Detention Center No. 2 in Taganrog and later to No. 3 in Kizel, Perm Krai. Former detainees reported hearing screams from nearby cells and described a “rubber cell” used for punishments with no sanitation.

The investigative report underscores that Hlukhovska has remained incommunicado, with no charges filed or official acknowledgment of her detention by Russian authorities. A letter from the Investigative Committee states that “no criminal cases have been initiated” and that Hlukhovska was not detained by investigative bodies. Her case was highlighted by rights-monitoring groups as emblematic of the broader risk faced by journalists in Russian custody.

The evidence points to an alarming pattern of enforced disappearance and torture under the guise of security operations. Hlukhovska’s documentation of life under occupation likely placed her at heightened risk; her status as a journalist has drawn concern from international press-freedom organisations. The lack of transparency regarding her location or condition, coupled with the severity of reported abuse, demands urgent investigation and accountability.

Reference – 

https://united24media.com/latest-news/you-could-hear-the-screams-ukrainian-journalist-tortured-and-held-by-russia-for-over-two-years-12721

‘You could hear her screams, they tortured her with electricity’: journalist Hlukhovska, who has been held captive by the Russians for over two years, was subjected to torture (investigation)