Ukrainian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk has called for urgent international intervention following allegations that Russian medical personnel participated in the torture of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.
Matviichuk, who heads the Center for Civil Liberties, made the call after the organisation published a report titled Anatomy of Torture, which alleges that Russian medical personnel denied detainees essential treatment, used tasers on prisoners and carved pro-Russian slogans into a Ukrainian soldier’s skin.
The Center for Civil Liberties shared the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize with Russian human rights organisation Memorial and Belarusian campaigner Ales Bialiatski.
Speaking to Metro, Matviichuk said the organisation released the findings to pressure Russia to stop the alleged abuses and save lives.
“We want to share this information to put pressure on Russia in order to save lives, because people are dying. People are dying,” she said.
She described the reported conditions in detention facilities as inhuman and said the accounts showed the extent of the alleged cruelty.
According to Matviichuk, one former detainee recalled encountering medical personnel only once during his imprisonment, after he lost consciousness while guards tortured him.
She alleged that Russian medics administered an injection to revive the prisoner so that his captors could continue torturing him.
Matviichuk also cited the case of a Ukrainian soldier who reportedly woke up after surgery to discover that someone had carved the words “Glory to Russia” into his skin using a surgical instrument.
The soldier later returned to Ukraine through a prisoner exchange and is now undergoing treatment to remove the inscription, she said.
“It’s a very painful and long-lasting process,” Matviichuk added.
She argued that the alleged abuses formed part of a wider pattern of violations, citing testimonies collected over 12 years since Russia seized Crimea in 2014.
The organisation gathered accounts from former detainees, relatives of people still held in occupied territories and other sources, while cross-checking the information against publicly available evidence, including videos and social media posts, she said.
The report, which four experts at the Center for Civil Liberties prepared with support from the UK Government, also detailed allegations against a medical worker at a detention facility in Russia’s Republic of Mordovia.
Several former detainees reportedly referred to the individual as “Doctor Evil” and accused him of using electric shock devices on prisoners before asking about their medical symptoms.
One witness described how the alleged doctor struck detainees with a taser before giving them medication.
“Your eyes are closed, your head is tilted down, and you can’t see anything. You give him your hand, and he hits you in the hand with a taser. First, he hits you with a taser, and then he gives you a pill,” the witness said.
Another former prisoner alleged that the medical worker participated in torture and ensured that victims remained alive during the abuse.
Ukrainian human rights organisation KHPG identified the individual as Ilya Sorokin. The report stated that Ukraine’s Security Service charged him in absentia in December 2025.
Matviichuk said authorities could not physically arrest Sorokin because he remained in Russia.
She disclosed that the Center for Civil Liberties had submitted several complaints to the International Criminal Court in The Hague and urged prosecutors to investigate the alleged crimes against humanity.
Matviichuk also called for the International Committee of the Red Cross to receive full access to civilians and prisoners of war held illegally in detention facilities.
She urged the international community to establish a special medical commission to visit Russia and assess the condition of detainees.
Beyond legal action, Matviichuk called on medical professionals worldwide to challenge the alleged abuses, arguing that pressure from their international colleagues could discourage further violations even as some exchanges and cooperation with Russia continued.
The Center for Civil Liberties and other organisations last week also appealed to the World Health Organisation to intervene.
In their letter, the groups said the WHO had “unique expertise and international capacity to draw attention to violations of the right to health, uphold international standards of medical care, and help ensure that the principles of healthcare and medical ethics remain in force even in situations of armed conflict”.
However, the WHO declined to comment when Metro contacted the organisation about the allegations.
