Ukrainian civilians vanish and languish in Russian-run jails

Hundreds, if not thousands, of Ukrainian non-combatants seized by Russian forces have yet to return home, and their families are unsure about their fate, write Hanna Arhirova and Dasha Litvinova

Alina Kapatsyna holds a poster that reads: "Bring back my mom from captivity," in Dnipro, Ukraine. It remains unclear why her mother was detained. Picture: Hanna Arhirova/AP/Shutterstock

Alina Kapatsyna often dreams about getting a phone call from her mother. In those visions, her mother tells her that she’s coming home.

Men in military uniforms took 45-year-old Vita Hannych away from her house in eastern Ukraine in April. She never returned. Her family later learned that Hannych, who has long suffered from seizures because of a brain cyst, is in custody in the Russian-occupied part of the Donetsk region.