“You are our last hope that you might be able to help us find him. Our parents are now living in the occupation and do not leave because they think that he might be held somewhere in the occupied territories and they are trying to find him there.”

With these lines, a Ukrainian woman asked the ISHR for help in finding her brother.

At the time of going to press in mid-February, 42 other relatives of Ukrainian civilians who had been abducted to Russia had contacted the ISHR and asked for support in securing their release. According to the Ukrainian “Coordination Centre for the Treatment of Prisoners of War”, over 1,600 civilians are in Russian hands. However, unlike the prisoners of war, there is no programme to exchange these civilians, nor is there any reliable information about where they are being taken. In most cases, they are ordinary Ukrainians with no political function who have been abducted by Russian soldiers and then taken to an unknown destination. According to our information, they are being held in Russian prisons or in the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine. In order not to jeopardise the safety of their relatives, we are particularly unable to name those who, like the petitioner above, live in the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

Kostyantyn Litvinov (born 11 February 1992) is one of the few who were released after being abducted. He reported that on 2 March 2022, Russian soldiers forced their way into his house near Sjewjerodonezk near Luhansk and took him away at gunpoint. They had promised his mother that they would let her son go again after checking his identity. But she waited in vain. His sister found the ISHR on the internet and asked for help. It was not until a year later that it became known that he was being held in Sverdlovsk penal colony no. 38 in the Luhansk region. On 3 January 2024, the above-mentioned coordination centre informed Litvinov’s sister that he had been released. Just one hour later, Litvinov called the ISHR in Frankfurt and thanked them for their efforts in his case. (The ISHR had campaigned on his behalf together with Hessian state parliament member Martina Feldmayer, who had taken on a political sponsorship for Litvinov). But his release is only half the story. The abduction, the abuse and injuries he suffered must be dealt with. He also needs psychological help to overcome his trauma.

As an initial response to reports of abductions, the ISHR has entered the fates of the 43 known civilian prisoners with photos in a database. The relatives use a questionnaire to describe what they know and also report on their personal situation. In almost all cases, the working man was deported, resulting in the impoverishment of the families. If necessary, the ISHR sends 150 to a maximum of 500 euros from a Ukrainian donation fund, depending on the size of the family, to bridge the gap until it is officially established that the family’s breadwinner has been abducted. At the same time, we appeal to politicians to take the abduction of civilians seriously and to campaign for their release. Since it has become known that the ISHR is helping, the number of requests for our help has also increased.

Not Having Photos Is A Burden For Many Internally Displaced Persons

All refugees who visit the ISHR aid centres in Ukraine are interviewed. When asked what they miss most and what burdens them the most, the answer is almost always that they were unable to take photos of family and friends with them during their flight or that they were damaged. Where possible, the ISHR-Ukraine contacts relatives and acquaintances who have remained in their homes so that they can search for photos in the abandoned flats and send them to the ISHR. The pictures are digitised and, if they are damaged, edited so that the recipients can save them on their mobile phones or on a PC. This is also part of the humanitarian aid.