Ukrainian volunteers recount three weeks in Russian captivity, allege beatings

Red Cross volunteer Volodymyr Khropun clasps his hands together to show how his hands were bound while being held by Russian troops inside a factory during Russia's invasion in the village of Dymer, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 14, 2022. Picture taken April 14, 2022. REUTERS/Alessandra Prentice

Volodymyr Khropun and Yulia Ivannikova-Katsemon say they were helping people flee villages on the front line in northern Ukraine when they were detained by Russian soldiers over two days in March.

    Both said they were then held with around 40 other captives on the concrete floor of a nearby factory, their hands bound. Nearly a week later they were transferred in a military truck to Belarus, and on to detention centres in Russia, they said.