Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, its forces have detained and tortured thousands of fighters and civilians. Here, photojournalist Zoya Shu recounts five years of documenting their stories

• Photographs by Zoya Shu

The pictures are haunting. There are portraits of Ukrainian men and women who have spent months and years in Russian captivity: soldiers, civilians, paramedics and volunteers. All experienced torture and brutal treatment. Many carry physical scars from their time as inmates. They are among the prisoners of war swapped since 2014, when Vladimir Putin began his Ukraine invasion, with a covert takeover in the east.

In 2019, the Ukrainian photojournalist Zoya Shu began photographing those freed from Russian detention. Over five years, she spent time with former prisoners of war (PoWs) in their homes, talking to them about their life stories and listening to their harrowing accounts of beatings and other forms of daily abuse.

Bogdan Sergiets shows the scar of a swastika carved into his back by pro-Russian militia in his home city of Donetsk in May 2014. He spent 10 hours in captivity and says his captors spoke about killing him to prevent their treatment of him being discovered