On 18 August 2022, a "Bobik" military vehicle pulled up outside Ihor Palamarchuk's home. Men in black uniforms told Ihor and Svitlana, a family friend, that they "needed to talk," and drove them to a checkpoint in the settlement of Pryozerne. There they were separated: Svitlana was left in a room on the upper floor, while Ihor was taken down to the basement. Three days later, Svitlana was released. When she asked about Ihor, the occupiers said he had "run away." They gave no explanation as to how he could have escaped from a basement that had been under constant guard.

This was not Ihor's first detention. In May 2022, he had been held unlawfully in a basement for around ten days. When he was returned home, his mother did not recognise her son at first — he was badly beaten and emaciated. According to his own account, he was beaten every day, kept without food or water, and pressed to give up names. Several times he was "taken out to be shot": driven away, held, then brought back. Ihor did not share the details at the time, fearing he would be taken again.

From the first day of the full-scale invasion, Ihor joined the Territorial Defence Forces. On 1 March 2022, he took part in the battle for Kherson. After Ukrainian forces withdrew from the city, he stayed in the occupied village, working in a shop and bringing in food through the checkpoints. The family is convinced that the reason for his persecution was his active pro-Ukrainian stance. According to Svitlana, at the checkpoint the occupiers said someone had denounced Ihor.

Since 18 August 2022, there has been no contact with Ihor. According to testimony from people who crossed paths with him in captivity, he was first held in torture chambers in Kherson, then possibly moved to Simferopol or Sevastopol, and later to Taganrog. The family has received no official confirmation from the Russian side. Ihor was born in 1970, and at the time of his abduction he had chronic health conditions. For three years, his wife has been searching for him through search groups, the police, and international bodies. The last confirmed place of his detention is a torture chamber in Kherson, in August 2022.

The documentation of war crimes is carried out with the financial support of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED). Its content does not necessarily reflect the official position of EED. The information and views set out in this publication are the sole responsibility of the NGO Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin.

The Association systematically documents war crimes and works to free civilians and support their families.