Merciless brutality against 74-year-old Donetsk hostage imprisoned since 2018 for supporting Ukraine

26.05.2025

Halya Coynash

Frustration and despair are inevitable when 74-year-old Vitaly Atamanchuk, and other hostages, imprisoned for their pro-Ukrainian position, are constantly passed over in exchange lists

Vitaly Atamanchuk Family photo from 2018

For all too many Ukrainian families, the joy over the last weekend at seeing so many Ukrainian prisoners of war finally free was tinged with sadness and, in some cases, mounting despair. For Olena Maibozhenko, another exchange of prisoners without her elderly father is a brutal blow, with hope ebbing away that his family will see him again. Vitaly Atamanchuk is 74 and was in ill health back in September 2018 when he was first abducted from his home in occupied Donetsk. Her father, Olena writes, is elderly, tortured and bedridden. He was taken prisoner almost seven years ago because he remained in Donetsk despite the occupation and defended his country’s territorial integrity.

Vitaly Atamanchuk is a retired miner who already had many serious health issues, including Bekhterev’s disease (a form of chronic rheumatic inflammation) even before he was seized in the Russian proxy ‘Donetsk people’s republic’, or ‘DPR’ in September 2018. Atamanchuk had never concealed his firmly pro-Ukrainian position and refused to be driven from his home in Donetsk after it fell under effective Russian occupation in 2014.

He was seized, together with his 70-year-old wife who had recently suffered a stroke and son, who had just arrived to visit his parents, during the night from 4-5 September 2018. Atamanchuk’s wife and son were finally released, however the torture Oleh had been subjected to had clearly taken a huge toll and he died within the year, aged just 49. Atamanchuk himself was not freed and was later ‘sentenced’ by an unrecognized ‘DPR court’ to 17 years’ imprisonment. While Russia was then denying its direct control over this illegal entity, it is telling that the abductions, torture and the charges of ‘spying for Ukraine’ were the same seven years ago as they have been since Russia dropped all pretence and launched its full-scale invasion.

It was a long time before Olena and her mother even knew where Atamanchuk was being held and it was only after he was moved to the Makiivka prison colony (where most political prisoners are held) that any contact became possible. Even prior to the full-scale invasion, communication was strictly limited, with the one meeting he was allowed with the lawyer she had found being held in the presence of two guards and also videoed.

The family know that Atamanchuk was held in the Donetsk SIZO [remand prison] until January 2019 when his ‘trial’ began. This consisted of seven closed ‘hearings’ during the space of a year, with her father sentenced to an incredible 32 years’ imprisonment. Once the different ‘sentences’ were combined, this turned into 17 years.

From the little Olena was able to glean from the lawyer’s visit, and also from the very few hostages who have been released, her father is very frail and in poor health. He was able, at most, to walk with crutches, due to a hip fracture. The torture he endured earlier, and the medical torture he will be experiencing now, with no access to proper treatment or medication, will certainly have made his Bekhterev’s disease progress still further, and even back in 2021, he increasingly suffered heart palpitations and often lost consciousness. The former hostages who passed on information also told Olena that her father could hardly get up and was unable, without help, to leave the cell for the very short period in the day that prisoners get a so-called ‘walk’

For seven years, Olena has tried tirelessly to secure her father’s release – writing appeals; meeting with people who might be able to help. She is increasingly losing hope, though notes that her father is bearing up and not losing his strength of spirit, for which she greatly respects him. “For me he is a hero of my time, and a hero for all our family”.

How long can they wait?

Although one of the oldest of Russia’s Crimean Tatar and other Ukrainian political prisoners and civilian hostages, Vitaly Atamanchuk is by no means the only one whose age and / or state of health makes release urgent. Several relatives have also expressed frustration at the endless number of exchanges of prisoners that have left their loved ones still illegally imprisoned. While not necessarily easy to know what Ukraine’s leaders or its international partners can do to bring pressure to bear on Russia, it does seem clear that it has been a high profile and publicity that have helped to get specific hostages or political prisoners released.

Please help in whatever way you can to publicize the torment Vitaly Atamanchuk is enduring and, if possible, the plight of the hostages below.

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