Illustration by Irina Stasuk. All rights reserved.
In May and June 2018, the situation around the city of Horlivka just outside of Donetsk deteriorated rapidly. Near this “new hot spot” are a number of penitentiary establishments, each holding a minimum of 500 prisoners who are basically captives of the new Donbas authorities. Over half of them were tried in Ukrainian courts for criminal offences, and many are serving sentences of more than five years. How are they fed, how are they protected from the bombings and shellfire – and why are they not being returned to serve their time in Ukraine, given that is where they were tried and convicted?
