page_title: Humanitarian situation during the war in Donbass
section_title: Abductions
hierarchical_section_title: Humanitarian situation during the war in Donbass / Abductions
caption_attribution_description: English: Shells hit residential building in Lugansk, Donbass, August 7, 2014.
context_page_description: During the ongoing war between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatist insurgents in the Donbass region of Ukraine that began in April 2014, many international organisations and states noted a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the conflict zone.
  A report by the United Nations said there had been an "alarming deterioration" in human rights in territory held by insurgents affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. The UN reported growing lawlessness in the region, documenting cases of targeted killings, torture, and abduction, primarily carried out by the forces of the Ukraine paramilitary forces. The UN also reported threats against, attacks on, and abductions of journalists and international observers, as well as the beatings and attacks on supporters of Ukrainian unity. A report by Human Rights Watch said "Anti-Kiev forces in eastern Ukraine are abducting, attacking, and harassing people they suspect of supporting the Ukrainian government or consider undesirable...anti-Kiev insurgents are using beatings and kidnappings to send the message that anyone who doesn't support them had better shut up or leave".
context_section_description: Since the start of the war, many people have been taken hostage or abducted by insurgents affiliated with the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics. Apart from ordinary citizens taken as forced labour by the insurgents, these include journalists, city officials, local politicians, and members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). A particularly large number of hostages were taken by Vyacheslav Ponomarev in Sloviansk, though these were later freed when government forces recaptured the city. Ponomarev later complained in Russian media that while they were fighting in Slavyansk, other militia groups were busy with theft of humanitarian help and property of civilians in Donetsk.
  Insurgents in Donetsk raided the city's International Committee of the Red Cross office at 19:00 on 9 May, and captured large stocks of medical supplies. They detained between seven and nine Red Cross workers. Those taken prisoner were accused of espionage, and held in the occupied Donetsk RSA building. They were later released on 10 May. One of the prisoners was found to have been severely beaten. The OSCE mission in Ukraine lost contact with four of its monitors in Donetsk Oblast on 26 May, and another four in Luhansk Oblast on 29 May. Both groups were held for a month, until being freed on 27 and 28 June respectively.
  In early July, Amnesty International published evidence of beatings, torture, and abduction of activists, protesters and journalists by insurgents in the Donbass region since the start of the unrest in April. It said that "while most abductions appear to have a 'political' motivation there is clear evidence that abduction and torture is being used by armed groups to exert fear and control over local populations". The report also said that some people had been abducted for ransom. The report summarized its finding by stating that "the bulk of the abductions are being perpetrated by armed separatists, with the victims often subjected to stomach-turning beatings and torture. There is also evidence of a smaller number of abuses by pro-Kyiv forces."
  A report by the United Nations OHCHR that was released on 28 July said that insurgent groups continued "to abduct, detain, torture and execute people kept as hostages in order to intimidate and to exercise their power over the population in raw and brutal ways". The report documents that at least 812 people have been abducted by the insurgents since mid-April, and said that these include "local politicians, public officials and employees of the local coal mining industry", and that "the majority are ordinary citizens, including teachers, journalists, members of the clergy and students".
  In early August, Amnesty International voiced concerned about actions of Radical Party leader and member of the Verkhovna Rada Oleh Lyashko. Lyashko is the leader of a pro-government paramilitary that participated in the war in Donbass. According to the Amnesty International report, Lyashko conducted a "continuing campaign of violence, intimidation and abduction against individuals". As an example of this "campaign", the report cited the abduction of DPR defence minister Igor Kakidzyanov. The abduction was recorded by Lyashko's forces. In the video, Kakidzyanov was seen being abducted, and later, after having been captured, "dressed only in his underwear with two bleeding cuts to his body".
  In mid August, there were reports that members of the pro-government Aidar Battalion paramilitary had taken hostages and demanded ransom for their release. In one incident, a man from Polovynkyne in Luhansk Oblast was accused of "separatism" by members of the battalion, and taken hostage. The paramilitaries said that they would kill him unless his wife paid 10,000 US dollars in ransom. She did this, and the man was released. OSCE monitors said that "the man's head was heavily swollen, bloody, and bruised" and he had "bruises and smaller wounds on his arms and legs". Another man was taken captive by members of Aidar Battalion in Shchastya on 13 August. Also accused of "separatism", his current w
caption: Shells hit residential building in Luhansk, 7 August 2014
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