As of the end of October 2024, information on 238 civilians who were arbitrarily detained by representatives of the Russian Federation or groups controlled by the aggressor country was found, of which 17 were identified during the processing of testimonies in October 2024. Last month, the documenters of the NGO “Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin” received 20 testimonies from people who witnessed and suffered from arbitrary detentions, shelling of civilian infrastructure and war crimes committed by the aggressor country against civilians. Three of them testified about the shelling of civilian infrastructure (in Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia), and the other 17 concerned illegal deprivations of liberty of civilians.

The research analyzes challenges faced by Ukrainian civilian citizens who were illegally deprived of personal freedom due to Russian armed aggression, in establishing this fact to obtain social and legal protection.