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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Lori Hinnant,Hanna Arhirova and Vasilisa Stepanenko

Thousands of Ukraine civilians are being held in Russian prisons. Russia plans to build many more

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Ukrainian civilians woke long before dawn in the bitter cold, lined up for the single toilet and were loaded at gunpoint into the livestock trailer. They spent the next 12 hours or more digging trenches on the front lines for Russian soldiers.

Many were forced to wear overlarge Russian military uniforms that could make them a target, and a former city administrator trudged around in boots five sizes too big. By the end of the day, their hands curled into icy claws.

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