Ukrainian mayor dies in Russian captivity

Source: iStories

The former mayor of Dniprorudne in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region died in Russian captivity, Ukrainian military officials confirmed this week. Invasion of forces kidnapped Yevhen Matveyev in March 2022. “He spent two years and eight months being tortured in captivity,” the head of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Military Administration said on Wednesday.

Matveyev’s remains were returned to Ukraine with another 501 bodies in the latest exchange with Russia.

Matveyev is not the first prominent Ukrainian civilian to die in Russian captivity. This October, Russian officials confirmed journalist Viktoria Roshchyna’s death. She was captured in August 2023 while reporting from occupied Ukrainian territory and held for months at a notorious torture prison in Taganrog.