The Memorial Support for Political Prisoners Project has sounded the alarm over a temporary centre for ‘refugees’ in Taganrog which is being used, it warns, to hold Ukrainians prisoner without any charge. These are people who failed the so-called ‘filtration measures’ that Russia has used since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, normally to ferret out those viewed as ‘suspect’ for their pro-Ukrainian position or because they, or close relatives, have served in Ukraine’s Armed Forces; enforcement bodies, etc. Memorial reports also that Ukrainians held there are regularly taken from this centre to a remand prison, or SIZO, in Donetsk, to face fabricated charges and likely long sentences, for example, on ‘spying’ charges.
Memorial reported on 28 November 2025 that Ukrainians, seized during ‘filtration’ proceedings, are held at the temporary centre for ‘refugees’ on the territory of the ‘Taganrog’ Hotel. This effective imprisonment can last from several months to a year, with all their documents and telephones taken away. This is dangerous, not only because they are effectively held incommunicado, but also because the FSB can find pro-Ukrainian posts on social media, evidence of donations to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, etc. to use as pretext for criminal charges. Russia has brought ‘spying’ charges against a huge number of civilians abducted since February 2022, with all such ‘trials’ taking place behind closed doors, and with a guaranteed conviction and sentence of 12-20 years. The conditions in such SIZO are appalling, and the chances that the Ukrainians will be subjected to torture to extract ‘confessions’ – extremely high.
The Insider spoke with a Russian human rights activist who, on condition of anonymity, stated that they had been aware of such practice since 2023. In the autumn of 2023, for example, they were helping a civilian who was held in what Russia is continuing to call the ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ [‘DPR’]. They succeeded in getting the prosecutor to carry out a check and issue an order to release him on the grounds that there were no grounds for holding him in a penal institution. He was freed and decided to leave occupied territory. Although the source does not elaborate, it is quite likely that the person wanted to reach government-controlled Ukraine, with this at the present time impossible from occupied territory without entering into Russia and then crossing into, say, Georgia or Latvia.
The person was stopped at a checkpoint on the border with Russia (Rostov oblast). He was told that his entry was banned and that he should return. If he did not, they said, he would be detained. “He said that he would take the risk and was, indeed, detained. He was placed in that temporary unit for ‘refugees’ and prohibited from leaving without telling anyone. He spent in total around 9 months, up till the summer of 2024, when one day he simply vanished without trace”.
The human rights activists managed to get him placed on the missing persons list in December 2025, however in June 2025, it was learned that he was imprisoned in SIZO No. 1 in Rostov-on-Don. He is facing charges of ‘involvement in the activities of a terrorist organization’. All of the time that he was ‘missing’, it transpired, he had been imprisoned in SIZO No. 3 in Perm region.
Judging by other prosecutions where at least the person’s identity is known, this supposed ‘terrorism’ charge could be based on as little as evidence of participation in a demonstration organized by the Azov Association, as was the case with Denys Shepotko. Russia has also used its supreme court and the ever compliant Southern District Military Court in Rostov to pass rulings declaring military units within Ukraine’s Armed Forces (the Azov Regiment; the Aidar Battalion; the Donbas Battalion, and others) ‘terrorist’. Those rulings are then used as pretext for massive sentences either against Ukrainian prisoners of war or against civilians who had, at some stage, taking part in defending Ukraine as part of the above military units.
The human rights activist said that he was aware of two other cases where Ukrainians had been detained in this ‘refugee unit’ for long periods of time, although both had, finally, been released. He is quite right in pointing out that there are no legal grounds for such detention, in the absence of criminal proceedings. This is, however, true of hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians whom the Russians began abducting immediately after their full-scale invasion of Ukraine. There are many, including Oleksandr Babych, Mayor of Hola Prystan (Kherson oblast) and Mariano Garcia Calatayud [Mario], a 77-year-old Spanish national living in Kherson, whose current whereabouts are not known and who have never accused of any offence.
Russia began using totally illegal ‘filtration’ measures soon after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, for example, when forcibly deporting Ukrainians from Mariupol to places in Russia. Men have even been forced to strip so that the invaders can check their tattoos for ‘evidence’ of pro-Ukrainian views. Both men and women could end up separated from their family because the Russians had found evidence of pro-Ukrainian views, photos, videos, etc. in their telephone, etc. In the case of 22-year-old Marianna Checheliuk, who was separated from her 15-year-old sister and ended up imprisoned for two years, it was probably the fact that, before Russia’s full-scale invasion, she had worked in Mariupol as a police investigator.
Since October 2023, the situation has worsened dramatically with such ‘filtration’ methods also used at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, the only port from which Ukrainians can hope to get to occupied territory (without Russian citizenship). People are forced to spend days at the airport and undergo gruelling interrogation as part of Russia’s so-called ‘filtration’. While many are banned from entry for providing truthful answers to questions about the war, occupied Crimea, etc, in some cases, other motives are at play. The Russian FSB demand to know every minute detail about any property, buildings or land, that a person owns, and probably ban those with particularly choice real estate in order to appropriate it.
