US president Donald Trump claims the Kremlin is now ready to end its invasion of Ukraine, but Ukrainians who have seen the Russian regime from inside say they witnessed only a lust for more war and conquest during years of imprisonment and torture.
Soldiers Serhiy Taraniuk and Ruslan Zarianych were captured at the same time while defending the southeastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol, and released on the same day in a prisoner exchange in 2024 after spending 2½ years in often brutal captivity.
In jails in occupied parts of Ukraine and in Russia itself, they were subjected to beatings, electric shocks, attacks by guard dogs and other physical and psychological abuse that rights groups say is standard treatment for Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
They also describe being exposed to an extreme version of the world view and propaganda pumped out across Russia by officials and media loya
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