On 6 June 2024, Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Martynov recounted his kidnapping by Russian occupying forces in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, in conversation with the representative of the Institute of Mass Information (IMI, a Ukrainian press freedom group) for Luhansk region. According to Martynov, the kidnapping took place on 10 December 2022, when Russian soldiers broke into his home (location unspecified) and took him to the city of Luhansk. Martynov said that upon arriving to his home, Russian forces had given him the choice of either “telling [them] everything or taking him away”.
He said that he was then taken away to an unknown location with a sack on his head, and was only able to recognize that this was Luhansk by certain specific sounds, such as that of a tram. Martynov recounted that he had spent 18 days in total under arrest. During this period, no one had come to interrogate him or ask him any questions linked to his arrest, the journalist said, adding that he and another man in the same cell were forced to live in unhygienic conditions.
On December 28, Russian soldiers took Martynov out of his cell and again took him to an unknown location approximately 20 minutes by car from where he was detained, instructing him to untie himself on his own and go home. From there, Martynov was able to reach his sister’s home and later leave Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to reach safe territory. It was unclear to what extent Martynov’s kidnapping was linked to his journalistic activities. The exact accusations made against him by Russian forces were also unclear.