The head of the Zaporizhzhya region's military administration, Ivan Fedorov, has alleged that the mayor of the Ukrainian town of Dniproprudne died after being tortured while in Russian custody.
Fedorov said in a statement on Telegram on December 4 that the body of Yevhen Matveyev was recently returned to Ukraine during a prisoner exchange with Russia, which has occupied Dniproprudne since the early days of the February 2022 full-scale invasion.
Matveyev was captured by Russian forces on March 13, 2022. Last month, Ukraine recovered the bodies of 502 fallen soldiers and civilians, including 17 from morgues in Russia, as part of an exchange of prisoners of war between the two countries.
"He was held captive by the occupiers for two years and eight months and tortured to death. During the last exchange, his body was returned to Ukraine," Fedorov said. He gave no further details.
Russian officials have not commented publicly on the allegations.
Despite the occupation, Matveyev refused to abandon his town and worked to ensure the functioning of essential services and kept the population informed about ongoing events, Federov noted.
Matveyev's death underscores the brutal conditions under which Ukrainian officials and civilians have been held while in Russian captivity.
In October 2023, a UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine found "continued war crimes and human rights violations gravely impacting civilians," including confirmation that "Russian authorities have used torture in a widespread and systematic way in various types of detention facilities."
Ukraine has also been accused of committing war crimes during the conflict, though to a far lesser extent.
