
Stuck in Rostov: Ukrainian Women’s Harrowing Detention and the Fight for Release
A New Yorker feature recounts Ukrainian women held in Rostov pretrial detention center No. 1, illustrating how civilians detained since 2014 endure torture and long-term custody with little chance of exchange. The piece profiles Valentina Zayarnaya, who sheltered a Ukrainian officer she later discovered lied about his identity, and Natalia Vlasova, who was tortured at Izolyatsia and sentenced to 18 years, shedding light on the broader pattern of abuse and the unresolved status of civilian detainees amid the Russia-Ukraine war.












