Analyst: Russia Treats Civilians in Occupied Ukraine as Hostages
Swedish-based analyst Andreas Umland argues in a column that Russia systematically detains Ukrainian civilians and uses them as bargaining chips. Experts recommend sanctions, legal accountability and greater public attention.
Andreas Umland, an analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS), writes in a column for the Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda that Russia systematically detains civilians in occupied Ukrainian territories and effectively uses them as hostages. The piece is the author's opinion rather than the editorial position, and it draws on a longer EPIK policy brief.
How many are held
Exact figures are unknown because Moscow conceals data and denies the International Committee of the Red Cross access to detainees. Ukraine's list of missing persons includes more than 70,000 people, military personnel among them. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets has confirmed about 1,800 civilians in custody, but he holds a separate list of over 16,000. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office identified 15,250 civilians held by Russia between February 2022 and August 2025.
As of December 2025, Ukraine had identified 1,782 civilians by name, yet Moscow acknowledged only 867 to the Red Cross. From March 2022 to May 2025, only 173 civilians returned home through exchanges.
Conditions and motives
Of 216 released civilians interviewed by the UN human rights office, more than 92% gave consistent, detailed accounts of cruel treatment. Umland names three purposes of the detentions: eliminating resistance, intimidating the population and obtaining people to use in exchanges.
Proposed solutions
The Center for Civil Liberties and other organizations call for a national register of detained civilians, stronger monitoring, documentation of torture, sanctions and prosecution of those responsible. Umland also suggests parliamentary resolutions, more media attention, pressure on the Red Cross, and considering the buyout of individual prisoners.
