Maksym Kolesnikov has served in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2015. From the first days of the full-scale invasion of the Russians, he joined the defence of the Kyiv region.
After an almost 8-hour battle with the occupiers, on March 20, 2022, Kolesnikov was captured, where he spent ten months.
On February 4, 2023, during the exchange of prisoners, 116 Ukrainians returned home. Maksym Kolesnikov was among them. His photo with an apple in his hand — the first in almost a year — went viral worldwide.
Now Maksym is fighting for those who are held hostage by the Putin regime - among them is Makariv lawyer Roman Skybun, with whom he spent ten months in the same cell.
The Geneva Conventions prohibit the detention, forced labour, or deportation of civilians. Detainees should be allowed to communicate with loved ones, receive legal aid and challenge the charges against them.
However, Russia does not recognize the fact of abduction of civilians and does not report their whereabouts.
Roman is one of thousands of civilians illegally detained by Russia on its territory and passed off as prisoners of war.
Since the summer of 2023, the Russian side has been complicating the exchange process to destabilize the situation within Ukrainian society.
In an interview with online.ua, Maksym Kolesnikov explained why the Russian Federation captures Ukrainian civilians, why international organizations cannot influence it, and what all Ukrainians should pay attention to.
Civilian Ukrainians are held hostage by the Russian Federation
One of your recent posts about the Ukrainian lawyer Roman Skybun, who is illegally held captive by the Russians, shook the web. Tell me what he is accused of and why he is still being held.
Roman and I met while in captivity in pre-trial detention center No. 2 of the Bryansk region of the Russian Federation in the town of Novozybkiv. He was captured by the Russians in Makariv around March 7, if I remember correctly.
When we shared the circumstances of our capture, he told us he was staying in Makariv, where hostilities were underway. A checkpoint of the Russian army was already standing outside the city. And the Russians ransacked residential buildings where people remained.
Roman helped older people and brought food and water. At some point, he could not stand the fact that there was constant shelling, so he got on his bicycle and drove to the checkpoint of the Russian army. I think so, both because of anger and because of trying to convince them that it is not necessary to shoot at civilians. There, he was immediately put on the ground and captured.
He was tied to an APC (armored personnel carrier — Ed.) for two days and spent the night on the street. It was still pretty cool in March, and he wasn't even allowed to go to the toilet. He was beaten several times until he was transferred to another unit, where he was beaten again by [employees] of the FSB, who tried to charge him with the fact that he allegedly came to that checkpoint to direct Ukrainian artillery there.
They were very frightened by the shelling of their columns and some of their positions, so they grabbed everyone they were afraid of. I know several such cases. After that, he was taken to Hostomel. He was there in the "refrigerator" together with other civilian hostages who were captured by the Russians, and from there, he was sent to Novozybkiv.
He arrived at the same pre-trial detention center a day or two before the Ukrainian military and I were brought here. And during the week when we were all assigned to different cells after the first interrogations, I ended up in a cell where Roman was already.
We got to know him, and for a long time before my exchange, I was in the same cell with him. It is more than 10 months. Roman is an educated lawyer. He once worked at the prosecutor's office of the Makariv district for several years, then went to work at lawyer's office. He has a license and is a member of the lawyer association...
That is, this person is thoroughly verified; it is easy to find him. One of my Twitter followers found his details and photos on the lawyer registry website very quickly. That is, it is very easy to make sure what kind of person this is, who he is, and what he is.
After release, there is a procedure where released prisoners report those they have seen so that our authorities can confirm that these people are alive. And, of course, a few released comrades and I also talked about him. That is, there is data on him, and I think that his family has been contacted. Unfortunately, I have no contacts.
The day before yesterday, I saw a photo of Roman that our Ombudsman published and that was reposted on the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War Telegram channel. I posted this photo.
Russians allowed to visit only 119 people, Ukrainian defenders. One of these people who was seen and got into the photos was Roman.
It seems that one of the representatives of the Ombudsman's office gave him some Christian literature there; maybe it was Moskalkova (Russian Ombudsman — Ed.) herself, but I don't know who exactly. But he is now, most likely, I don't know for sure, in a colony in the city of Tula.
The Novozybkiv Prison was disbanded in the spring, and people were distributed to different places of detention.
And for all this time, while he and I were together, no charges were brought against him. That is, the Russians simply keep civilians.
He was not the only one there because, in my cell, where I was from the beginning, out of 14 people, only four were somehow related to the military. More precisely, two active military personnel and two more were somehow connected with the Armed Forces or some Ukrainian power structures.
All the other ten people were civilians. Roman was among them. I will remind you that I was in prison until January 31, and on February 4, I was exchanged after being in an intermediate camp.
So, at that moment, on January 31, no charges were brought against Roman or other civilians who were with us. They are kept there. Roman has been held for almost 20 months. This is a de facto hostage situation because people were simply caught in the then temporarily occupied and now liberated territories.
In the neighboring cell with us were people from the Chernihiv region, from the village. They were told that they had to be evacuated. About two dozen men were separated and brought to this prison. Since then, no accusations or contact with lawyers or prosecutors have been made. Nothing. They were interrogated and held, just like the military.
In the summer, some civilians were separated and sent somewhere. Because Russians like to do this in general, they constantly transport people there and move them for unknown reasons. Well, Roman and four other people remained. So he is still there.
Why am I bringing this story up now? Because we see actual proof that this was a captured civilian who had no opportunity to contact his relatives, who have no charges even in their systems. This is crazy. They are trying to accuse someone of some crimes against the civilian population.
And here, they keep a civilian person. And there are thousands of them. This photo shows us a specific person in specific circumstances. So, this story vividly shows how it happens.
And that's why I'm trying to spread it to show how Russia commits its crimes. And in fact it is terrorism. Because Roman is just a hostage.
Inactivity of the UN and the Red Cross
This story is another violation of international laws and conventions by Russia. And again, the question arises: where are the UN and the Red Cross in this story?
The fact is that many organizations should somehow react to such a story. For example, in the spring, I was at the OSCE conference in Vienna, where I testified about the crimes of the Russians against prisoners, and I told various stories, including how the military is abused and how civilians are held and tortured.
I was not alone; of course, there were several Ukrainian prisoners, both military and civilian. We gave evidence.
After our speech, many of the diplomats, who have endurance and have heard a lot, cried when a woman from Berdyansk, a Ukrainian, told how the Russians tortured her with an electric current.
And after our stories, they came up to us, as they say, on the sidelines, someone said some words of support.
The longest conversation was with the ambassador of Ireland, who directly told us that, unfortunately, they cannot do anything, because the Russians know very well the rules of the OSCE organization, and they are manipulating them. I said to her: "Perhaps, if you want them not to be manipulated, then maybe it's time to replace these rules?".
All these treaties, including the UN charter and the Geneva Convention, which Russia once signed, are based on the goodwill of the participating countries that signed up to it. No punishments for violations are considered; it is impossible to punish those who violate the Geneva Convention, at least financially or with sanctions.
And Russia trampled these agreements and did whatever it wanted. And such things that Russia is doing now lead to the destruction of the world structure of this right, of some obligations. It does not exist.
Because if you can break the rules and don't bear any punishment, then there is no system. Everything can be written down on paper with a clear goal and instructions, but if it doesn't work, then it means that there is no system.
The Russians pass off Ukrainian civilians as military personnel
According to the rules of war, civilians should not be captured, as this violates international conventions. Why does the Russian Federation capture civilians, and why does it not return them to Ukraine?
I can only assume. A great many people were captured from the temporarily occupied territories at the beginning of the war simply because the Russians took prisoners for numbers. And they didn't hide it then, and they even told several people about it directly.
By the way, Roman was also told about this. They already knew that we had captured Russians. At that time, they had a few captured Ukrainian soldiers because Ukrainians suffered more minor losses in hostilities, and this was even before Mariupol, for example.
Then, capturing us for the exchange fund was challenging, and they were ordered to bring at least someone.
For example, when we were in a filtration camp in Belarus for two days, Ukrainian civilians were brought there, and the Russian military put some elements of the Ukrainian uniform on them.
For example, they brought a man with a Ukrainian pixel raincoat pulled over his civilian clothes. And when they handed him over, they said he was a military man. That is, they grabbed anyone and tried to pass them off as Ukrainian servicemen.
They had plans for a large-scale infiltration to find Ukrainian patriots who would fight the regime, so any action they did not understand caused them surprise and fear.
The very act of a civilian who goes to a roadblock to say: "Don't shoot because elderly people are living there who can't leave the house" is a kind of crazy thing for the Russians. They are not used to the fact that protecting others in this way is possible.
Because of this command, it was necessary to catch at least someone, and he was caught. And a lot of people got to the Russians just like that.
I do not and cannot call them prisoners, because they are hostages. According to all laws, they cannot be considered prisoners, because they are civilians.
And this, again, complicates the exchange because, following all conventions and rules implemented by Ukraine, we exchange military personnel for military personnel.
These are significant and challenging negotiations because the Russians constantly change something. And every time there is a "trade" for people, there is a story about how they exchange a captain for a captain, a private for a private, a soldier for a soldier, a sailor for a sailor. Who should we exchange a lawyer with? According to what principle? On what "rate"? He should be brought back without negotiations.
Ukraine fulfills the convention for its part. I am following this issue. We gave away seriously injured people, and we gave away some people who, from the point of view of law, had to return to their homeland. And we did it.
And the Russians take advantage of the fact that we want to be a European country, we want to adopt some legal systems, while they themselves may not do anything at all. And that's why everything happens like this.
I also know that they were terrified. We had a man who was 65 years old at the time of capture. Soon, he will be 67. Soon, they spent two years as hostages, in prison, in a concentration camp.
He was taken in the Ivankiv district, which was occupied then. He was walking through the village with his friend, who was 72, to visit a friend whom he had not seen for a long time. There was no mobile service, so they wanted to know if he was alive. They were caught in the gardens, told that they had probably come to coordinate Ukrainian artillery, and both were brought to the same Novozybkiv. As far as I know, both are still in the Russian Federation.
Are there any chances that this problem will be noticed? Almost two years into the full-scale invasion, the world doesn't seem to be aware of the problem or actively involved in the process.
The world does not want to hear about this problem because it hopes to normalize relations with Russia someday. Here, the story is not about the world's reaction but our reaction. We have to be active.
I know that there are permanent representative offices at the state level. Representatives of the Coordination Headquarters constantly travel and take former prisoners or civilian hostages to international events. The Coordination Headquarters also supported our trip.
Some investigators from various organizations are constantly coming to record these crimes and talk about them, despite attempts not to hide but to slow down these facts because this information is not very convenient for supporters of Russia — Orban, Fico, and Trumpists.
Because you can say anything about the fact that this is a war, hostilities... You can say about everything, "not everything is so clear", but when a civilian is taken hostage, tortured, starved, not released anywhere, and this is done for months, and soon we can say that even for years, these are obvious crimes. There is no need to think or weigh anything here.
That's why we have to shout about it. Therefore, I am now trying to spread this information as much as possible. I am attracting some acquaintances who can spread and tag on the social networks world organizations to pressure, pressure, and pressure them.
Perhaps this will not give the maximum result, and Roman will not be released shortly, but the minimum task is not to let this topic somehow disappear from the field of view in the international arena. There should be a constant background that Russia is committing crimes.
The purpose of the war is to destroy the Ukrainian political nation
Russia does not want to carry out an exchange of prisoners of war and civilians, and Putin also closed the possibility of Ukrainians entering Russia through third countries, which makes it almost impossible for abducted children to return home. One gets the impression that the primary goal of this war is not to seize land but to re-educate, kill the people, and completely rewrite history.
Exactly. This is a genocidal war, in which there is a straightforward task — to destroy the Ukrainian political nation, to make Ukrainians another Buryat or Yakut who do not have their statehood, forget their language, and give the resources of their land to the central Russian government and at the same time die for some imperial wars.
I advise those who doubt to look at the statistics available on the Internet, how people die in different national regions of the Russian Federation, and what is the proportion of the dead from central Russia and various national republics.
You will simply see that in this war Putin has already destroyed the future of several nations. And you can also see that a generation of men was actually killed in Donetsk and Luhansk. They are not there.
If we analyze even the Russian reports that seep into their propaganda, we will see that no men in Donetsk could change the pipe on the heating line. Physically, no such men can dig and fix this pipe. No one can lift the hatch because where are all these workers? They died at the front. They were thrown like meat, and they were destroyed because they attacked our police.
I have an acquaintance who was mobilized last December, took up arms against Ukraine, and died. He's my age, but that's it. He's gone. He had a family. And there are tens of thousands of such men who no longer exist.
Therefore, this is their policy — to make us the same people who gave up their language and culture, who became slaves of this empire, work for it and then die.
Because if you also carefully look at how Moscow and St. Petersburg lived, they are still living the same way, with minimal loss of people. And all national minorities — Dagestanis, Tatars, Kabardins — they will perish in Ukraine.
Conditions of detention in Russian captivity
We know that when Russia demonstratively makes its stories about the detention of prisoners, it shows a perfect picture. In what conditions do the Russians keep prisoners of war? And do these conditions differ from the imprisonment of civilians?
I will say right away that the conditions are not different. Both civilians and the military are held in the same conditions. Now I know that probably due to some pressure, the International Red Cross began to be allowed to some of my comrades and gave them a connection. The first year they were there, and for some time when I was there, they did not give me any contact with my relatives.
I don't want to talk about myself because it may seem that I see everything only through my own experience. Still, recently, there were just terrible memories of men from Mariupol about how they were bullied. And Azov and the marines.
And I can describe it in just one word. This is a concentration camp. And it will not pass just like that for anyone who came from captivity.
Perhaps you know the story of one of the commander of Azov, who was exchanged. He died in Ukraine three months after the exchange because his heart could not stand it—a young, strong, mighty man. The man was destroyed physically. He was thin, lost 30 kilograms of weight, and his heart could not take it. He died of heart failure. The heart muscle is also a muscle.
Terrible food conditions. There is an absolute lack of regular hygiene all the time. Last winter, when it became cold in Kyiv, I remembered how we used to go out in the cold at -10 and -15 in our summer clothes, slippers, and socks.
They chased us because they had a standard that we needed to walk for 5 minutes a day. The measure was for an hour, so we were happy. I had to walk in the cold for 5-7 minutes daily. And you walk, and you can neither move quickly nor run much less.
So you just walk around the cell, which is 2x2 or 2x3 meters, and there are 14 of you. Just walk slowly in a circle. It's just hatred. You just freeze and hate it more and more.
I won't talk about many other things. There are, of course, families who are waiting. And they don't have to think about it much. But just any photos from the exchange of our men show in what condition they leave. And here, it is impossible to hide. These people return after torment.
There are isolated situations when people do not have time to endure extreme hunger and torment. These were field exchanges when a person was exchanged within weeks or months, one and a half or two after getting to the front line. And their prisons are a de facto system of concentration camps.
Our team had the opportunity to speak with Russian prisoners of war. We saw the conditions under which Ukraine keeps them. The question arises: how moral is it that the Ukrainians keep Russian prisoners of war in good conditions while the Russians torment and even shoot our soldiers on camera?
We want to remain ordinary people. I don't want to live in a country where the norm is to give the order to go to the tired, unarmed people in a cell and just beat them with batons. But it is customary in Russia.
I don't want to live in a country where people, innocent people, are held, and they stand there for days, and they are not allowed to move or talk because this is a kind of torture.
I want to live in a normal country where rules, laws, and international conventions are followed. Also, this is a sure moral decline in people who do all this. Imagine what is happening in the head of an adult, strong guy who is given the order to beat a 65-70-year-old person and is ready to carry out this order. That was just next [my cell]. An elderly civilian was just standing here; it can be seen that it is difficult for him, and he is being beaten.
Do we want to live in a society where such things are the norm? Do we want to live in a society where such orders can be given and obeyed? No, we don't want to live like this.
We want to live in a society where people, or at least their human dignity, are treated with respect and where criminals should be punished.
If those people who are in our captivity have committed war crimes, then, of course, they must be tried according to the law and punished according to the law. But torture and such treatment simply become a tumor in society. All of Russia is sick because they not only tolerate it. They are proud of it.
This is something that has always puzzled me: why do you say that you are against fascists, but behave like fascists?
Because this is a fascist society and fascist behavior, as far as I'm concerned. I don't want us to live here. I want us to behave humanely. In a human way. Not like in Russia.
Why does Russia not release Ukrainian civilians
Do you think it is better for them to remain in our captivity altogether or to return to their homes? And what will happen to those who are not exchanged, for example, at the end?
We are in a situation where it is unknown whether Russia will want to get them back.
You know how, in Stalin's time, there was such mistrust of those who were captured because they thought that there were some infiltrated agents. Maybe they believe that these people can be infiltrated.
And, of course, I watched several interviews, and some of them remain the same stubborn rushists who say that we have Nazis here, although he is not tortured. Well, it's just that the significantly developed Nazis, who feed them well, treat them and all that.
But their fate does not interest me at all. It is important to me that those who committed war crimes should be punished, and all others should be exchanged. If Russia does not want to exchange them, then we must seek to return all our people by other means. The question is that it is not very clear why Russia needs them.
Most likely, it is my opinion that there are two reasons why civilians are not released. Of course, because this is an admission of a crime. Why don't they exchange the military? The first is, after all, heating up our internal dissatisfaction. And the second is the reluctance to show one's crimes once again.
Because every time, every exchange is new evidence of crimes against humanity, against the rules of some international law. And they don't want it.
I hope that one day, they will decide that they will not be able to achieve their goals because they do not understand us. Those who tried to communicate or broadcast some policy to us have an absolute misunderstanding of Ukrainians and our values.
They do not understand that we are standing up for our own, that we will feel more anger and hostility against the occupiers and not against each other.
They think that we can argue among ourselves quite harshly, but when we have to repel the invaders, we unite.
We have never separated amid such a threat in Ukraine's recent history. Therefore, I do not believe their attempts to interrogatу the prisoners will succeed. Perhaps they will realize this someday, and the exchange will resume.
The lack of a quick victory caused a debate in Ukraine
Regarding the unity. The Economist recently published an article in which journalists write about the impasse on the battlefield and the constant disputes between the military and political leadership. This article divided the opinions of Ukrainians. What do you think is the primary purpose of such materials, and who is its main reader?
It's hard to say because I'm not The Economist employee, how they phrase it for themselves. I want to remind you of the reason for our discussion and even quarrels: the lack of a quick victory over the Russian Federation.
Just compare the level of what the foreign press previously wrote about Ukraine and what foreign politicians and leaders of different countries said...
At the beginning of the invasion, they said that we would lose quickly and that there would be no one to help in a matter of weeks. And they seriously counted on the fact that there would be some partisan resistance on the part of the territory of Ukraine, but there would be no centralized country. And now, 20 months later, we've gotten to the point where we didn't get a quick win. And this is now a problem.
I think that in a normal healthy society, different opinions are the norm. And of course, one of those situations where there can be a discussion in society is the absence of military advances.
And they must be analyzed. But I emphasize that if you look at the latest wave of confidence polls, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are still in first place as an institution in Ukraine.
Moreover, the first place is not 20%, but somewhere around 70. I don't remember the exact figure, but most Ukrainians trust the Armed Forces. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (of Ukraine — Ed.) ranks first in the country's military and political leadership ranking. There, too, for 70%. The Supreme Commander has more than 70% support.
Ukrainians, even though not everything worked out for us this year, as everyone hoped, and it is difficult because we have a strong enemy, are arguing about why we did not win quickly this year.
And at some point, of course, in a country where, despite the war, there is still a political discussion, it could not but reach such forms where someone starts blaming someone else. But this will all remain a discussion. And all this will not affect our hatred of the enemy, despite the fact that someone has gone a bit crazy.
We already hear people, for example, like Arestovych, who is already forming some political support of his own, that let's negotiate [with the Russians]. No way!
We do not want to negotiate as a nation. We want to win. We can argue about why we didn't do it all. But no one argues about why we are resisting. There are no quarrels in society about whether to surrender or not.
There are arguments about whether we have done enough to win quickly. This is what the idea is about now. And this is a significant factor.
We have not stopped believing and being sure of victory if it were not difficult with the economy because people have problems with work, and the income level does not increase, but still, the volunteer meetings are closed.
I opened my Twitter this morning and read a post from a well-known volunteer collecting for the Avdiivka direction that she had amassed 4.5 million hryvnias overnight. She does not represent a large fund; she has trust, and everyone knows she takes care of this direction.
We all know what is happening now [in the Avdiivka region]; there are significant needs, so she collected urgently 4.5 million overnight. This suggests that there is an active society. It is united; it can argue among itself on some issues, but still, we fought, are fighting, and will fight until we win.
Mobilization is the key to our survival
What do you think all Ukrainians should pay attention to now?
To mobilization. We must turn our attention to mobilization. Let's be honest: guys and girls have been at the front for a long time, and many already have wounds.
I know a person who has 17 concussions. If someone thinks you can fight after that, you can not. This person needs treatment.
Every day, we have wounded and killed. We need more people. And when I now see the indignation because of the work of the TRC [Territorial Recruiting Center — Ed.]... I understand that the TRC must act according to the laws. However, we must move away from the idea that people who joined the army at the beginning of 2022 should fight until the end without rotation.
I don't think they will be demobilized; it is impossible. But there should be enough people so those from the battlefield have a few weeks or months of regular rest and recovery.
And someone has to replace those who are eliminated due to health conditions, like me, for example, because they were resigned off due to unfitness. And just as there is an emphasis on the fact that employees of the TRC cannot break the law, we should also talk about the fact that evasion is a crime and treason against Ukraine.
And that those who are now avoiding the Ukrainian mobilization will not be able to avoid being drafted into the army of the Russian Federation in the event, God forbid, of our defeat. None of us will want to go and fight against the Poles.
Therefore, let's support our army and, if possible, join its ranks to prevent the victory of Russia. Because since the war is still ongoing, this means zero probability of Russia's victory.
We must stand up for ourselves, and then we will win. We must believe and act. And now it seems that mobilization is essential for us to resist.
If we resist, we will have an international victory. I am sure that such a mechanism will be found in the [United] States so that we will continue to receive money and weapons, but if we do not have people who can take these weapons into their hands, then we will not succeed in anything.
The main thing is that Ukrainians do not forget that the war is not over in our country; it continues. Because even from our talks with the military, the majority is outraged and saddened that many have forgotten that it continues.
The biggest concern is that not enough people will join this war. People remember, donate, worry about it, and are concerned... Indeed, when there are all kinds of "Shaheds" and missiles, it's hard to forget about it.
But it's like a social contract, as if there are some military, some separate caste that is fighting, and I'm helping. So now you have to tell yourself that no, this is not enough.
The war has reached a positional phase, and we need more men, and we need to fight even better than the enemy.
We cannot afford such losses for many reasons, because we must live and be reborn. But nothing will happen if people don't take up arms now and stand up instead of those who drop out.
