In January 2025, Memorial Human Rights Center members visited Ukraine and conducted the first monitoring mission by Russian observers since the start of the full-scale invasion. They visited the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions, along with the cities of Poltava and Odesa. During the trip, Memorial’s team documented violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes committed by the Russian army. The group plans to present its findings later this spring. Meduza spoke with Memorial observer Vladimir Malykhin about what he saw in Ukraine and why the monitoring mission is crucial to improving our understanding of contemporary Russia.
This part of the interview surprised me the most:
There were times when people refused to talk at all. But in my opinion, this was not so much because we were from Russia but rather because it was just too painful for them to revisit those events and relive everything again mentally. I spoke with a man in a small town outside Mykolaiv, and he said, “I don’t have any particular hostility toward Russians — I lived in Moscow myself and studied there. But, sorry, I just can’t talk about this. It’s too painful.” I understand that.
Of course, when they spoke about the [Russian soldiers] who came to their towns, they did so with deep hostility, verging on hatred. Sometimes, they used harsh words, calling them “orcs” or even worse. But quite often, when they used such words, they made it clear that they were not referring to us [Memorial’s staff]. In most cases, they distinguished between us and those who had come as occupiers.
The quote in the title is buried all the way at the bottom, it seemingly references the story in this article;
Q: The war in Ukraine has basically unfolded live on television. With so much already available online, was there anything you encountered on this trip that surprised you?
A: Strictly speaking, I wasn’t at the front. We were behind Ukrainian lines. It’s true that a lot is already known about this war — there are countless documents, photos, videos, and firsthand accounts from participants and witnesses. Overall, I didn’t come across anything fundamentally new that I hadn’t heard about before. But, of course, reading about something in the news and hearing about it directly from those who lived through it — especially the victims — is an entirely different experience. One story that struck me particularly hard was from a former Ukrainian prisoner of war who described the torture he endured. At a prison in Mordovia, where he was held, POWs were forced to stand with their hands behind their heads, facing a wall, without moving. From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with only short breaks — for six months. Later, the conditions were somewhat relaxed. While it’s well documented that a vast number of POWs have been tortured in Russia, I’d never heard of this specific type of torture before.
