At the Pobratym Veteran Space in Vinnytsia, a screening and discussion of the film Witnesses. Captivity Kills took place during the 22nd Travelling Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival. A special guest was Maksym Butkevych, a human rights advocate, military serviceman, and the ambassador of this year’s festival, who spent more than two years in Russian captivity.

A film that reveals the truth about captivity

The documentary Witnesses. Captivity Kills tells the story of the tragedy in Olenivka and of the people whose lives were forever changed by imprisonment.

For many of those present, this screening became their first opportunity to dive so deeply into the topic of captivity: the room was filled with tension that shifted into silence, difficult questions, tears, and long pauses between remarks.

Maksym Butkevych: An experience that cannot be comprehended without pain

After the screening, Maksym Butkevych joined the audience online and shared his own experience of captivity and what he is now trying to change in the system of protecting the rights of military personnel and civilians.

He emphasised that:

• russia systematically violates international humanitarian law;

• the provisions of the Geneva Conventions are completely ignored;

• international organisations, including the ICRC, must act more decisively;

• the issue of captivity and torture cannot be left “for later”, as hundreds of people still remain in imprisonment.

Photo: Online discussion with Maksym m Butkevych, ambassador of Docudays UA Traveling Film Festival and human rights activist

“We must not give up until justice is established. This is our moral duty,” Maksym emphasised.

Voices of veterans and families of the missing

Veterans and family members of service members who are currently considered missing or are in russian captivity attended the meeting.
Painful, complex, but necessary topics were articulated:

• torture and inhuman conditions of detention,

• the search for the missing and bureaucratic obstacles,

• the lack of transparent mechanisms for determining the fate of prisoners.

Representatives of the Pobratym Space exchanged contacts with Maksym Butkevych: the participants agreed to continue cooperation and support for the families of the missing.

Photo: military psychologist Nelia Kutsak

Military psychologist Nelia Kutsak emphasised that reintegration after captivity is not only the path of the soldier.
Society must learn to accept people who have been changed, to hear their experience, and not to demand that they “return to normality”.

The film screening and the open conversation helped civilians better understand the scale of the psychological consequences endured by prisoners.

The event in Vinnytsia became not just a screening of a documentary film — it was a meeting with the voices of witnesses and an exchange of experiences that cannot be forgotten.

Photo: discussion of experiences of captivity and reintegration

The Travelling Docudays UA continues to help amplify the voices of those who cannot speak for themselves today:
those who are still in captivity,
those who are being searched for,
those who are waiting.

The 22nd Travelling Docudays UA is held with the financial support of the European Union, the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine, and International Media Support. The opinions, conclusions or recommendations do not necessarily correspond to the views of the European Union, the governments or charities of these countries. Responsibility for the content of the publication lies solely on its authors.