"Rusal", war, captivity and return: life handed a man from Mykolaiv an overly harsh script

Mykolaiv resident Volodymyr Kravchenko, who spent more than three years in Russian captivity, spoke about his service, the defense of Mariupol, beatings, hunger and survival in Russian prisons. The serviceman told his story to journalists of Suspilne.

His combat service Volodymyr Kravchenko began back in 2014 as part of the 79th Air Assault Brigade. According to him, at that time the unit carried out reconnaissance raids and held the defense in the Donetsk region.

“In the Amvrosiivka area we took up positions and waited for them there. We were ready for anything. Then they threw us into a breakthrough towards the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, to the border. It was June 12 — we reached the border. That is, we had already entered the enemy’s rear,” — the serviceman recalls.

In 2021 he joined the 36th Separate Marine Brigade. From the start of the full-scale invasion he was in Mariupol, where together with his comrades he defended the city and set up positions at the plant and in bunkers under constant shelling.

“We saw how they “ironed” Mariupol — they completely leveled the city center. We understood that they needed the city itself,” — Volodymyr says.

After two unsuccessful attempts to break out of the encirclement, on April 12, 2022 the serviceman fell into Russian captivity.

According to the marine, at first they were held in barracks without water or food, and then were transferred to Olenivka.

“There it was six days without water. They fed us, but when it came to water — nothing. They had issues with it, so all we wanted was water. The first thing you need in captivity is water,” — he says.

After that Ukrainian servicemen were transported to the Ivaniv region of the Russian Federation, where, according to the Mykolaiv resident, the “real nightmare of captivity” began.

“I was 3.2 years in captivity — constant hunger. They feed you only enough so that you can stay on your feet. That’s it, nothing more,” — the marine recounts.

He recalls that beatings were systematic.

“They beat with everything: batons, sticks, even with a wooden mallet. During inspections — every time you left the cell, in short, there was a beating,” — says Volodymyr Kravchenko.

According to him, conditions varied between different colonies, but the essence remained the same — constant fear, beatings and humiliation.

“You wake up in the morning — and you expect a beating. Then breakfast, or the other way around,” — the serviceman says.

He also recalls the psychological pressure and inhuman treatment.

“The hardest part is feeling that you are a person, while you are in such conditions as if you are not a person. And the way they treat you is worse than how they treat cattle,” — the marine says.

From captivity Volodymyr Kravchenko returned on June 10, 2025. The serviceman received the breast badge “For Resilience”.

After rehabilitation he plans to return to the military.

“That was the hardest thing — knowing that, God forbid, tomorrow there might be an exchange, and I might die today,” — the serviceman admits.

Mykolaiv resident Volodymyr Kravchenko spent more than three years in Russian captivity.

Before the war he worked as a fitter of the 5th grade at the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, which at that time belonged to the Russian company “RUSAL”.

After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Volodymyr himself took the draft notice and mobilized into the 79th Air Assault Brigade. His military service began on March 20, 2014. Later he served in the 36th Separate Marine Brigade.

“In 2014, when they went to Crimea, I went to the 79th brigade, took the draft notice, went, mobilized. With comrades in 2014 everything started, March 20, 2014. I joined the troops. And then my military service began,” — recalls Volodymyr Kravchenko.

Previously we wrote:

• Instead of treatment — beatings: a released Mykolaiv resident spoke about torture in Russian captivity
• “Hell first-hand”: in the correspondence of a Russian general — torture and executions of Ukrainian prisoners
• Russia executed 337 Ukrainian prisoners of war by the end of 2025
• After captivity and a fabricated “life sentence”: an officer from the Mykolaiv region received the award “For Resilience”
• Returned from Russian captivity: a marine from the Mykolaiv region was reunited with his family