Kherson mayor remains in Russian captivity four years after abduction as former prisoners describe abuse
Ihor Kolykhaiev, the mayor of Kherson who refused to cooperate with Russian occupation authorities, has spent more than four years in Russian captivity. Former Ukrainian prisoners who were held with him have now described severe beatings, deteriorating health and years of uncertainty over his fate.
Russian forces abducted Kolykhaiev in occupied Kherson in June 2022 after he refused to cooperate with Moscow-installed authorities. He was later transferred through several detention facilities and is believed to remain imprisoned in Kizel, in Russia's Perm region.
Former prisoners interviewed by hromadske said they saw Kolykhaiev in Russian detention and described repeated beatings and periods when he struggled to walk because of a severely swollen leg. Their accounts offer a rare glimpse into the treatment of one of thousands of Ukrainian civilians held by Russia - and the difficulties Ukraine faces in bringing them home.
Beatings and deteriorating health in Russian detention
Kolykhaiev was abducted by Russian National Guard and FSB officers on June 28, 2022, after refusing to cooperate with the Moscow-installed authorities in occupied Kherson. He had continued working with part of his team after Russian forces seized the city administration building and rejected a request to meet the occupation-appointed mayor shortly before his detention.
He was initially held in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory and later transferred to Russia. Former prisoners told hromadske that by September 2024, Kolykhaiev had been taken to a detention facility in Kizel in Russia's Perm region.
Witnesses described a brutal arrival procedure in which guards singled out high-profile prisoners, including members of the Azov Brigade and the Kherson mayor, and beat them for hours with their hands, batons and electric shock devices, while also using dogs.
Several former prisoners who were held with or near Kolykhaiev said he was repeatedly beaten but continued to tell guards that he had been detained because he refused to cooperate with Russia. One former prisoner recalled Kolykhaiev identifying himself as Ukrainian and saying he wanted to return to Ukraine when prisoners were pressured to accept Russian passports.
Former prisoners also described serious problems with his left leg. They said it became severely swollen, made walking difficult and at one point appeared infected. Medical assistance was initially unavailable, according to their accounts.
Conditions reportedly improved somewhat after an inspection of the facility following the deaths of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna and Dniprorudne Mayor Yevhenii Matvieiev in Russian captivity. Kolykhaiev later received antibiotics and other treatment, and one former prisoner who saw him more recently said his condition appeared to have stabilized.
Why Ukrainian civilians are so difficult to bring home
Unlike prisoners of war, civilians held by Russia are not covered by an established prisoner-exchange mechanism, making negotiations over their return significantly more complicated.
Kostiantyn Davydenko, head of the Ukrainian NGO Civilians in Captivity, knows the process firsthand. Detained by Russia's FSB in occupied Crimea in 2018, he spent seven and a half years in Russian custody before returning to Ukraine in a prisoner exchange in August 2025.
Davydenko said Ukraine requested his return nine times before Russia agreed to release him on the tenth attempt. He said Moscow is particularly reluctant to release prominent Ukrainians and described Kolykhaiev as effectively being held hostage.
According to Davydenko, there is no separate list of civilians sent to Russia for each exchange. Instead, Russia has access to a common database of people Ukraine wants returned, while negotiations can focus on particular categories or individuals.
Kolykhaiev's son, Sviatoslav, has publicly questioned whether Ukrainian authorities are doing everything possible to secure his father's return. He said he had received conflicting information about efforts to include his father in exchanges and claimed that people who tried to help the family had faced pressure. He has not provided evidence that the process is being deliberately obstructed.
Ukrainian authorities deny that Kolykhaiev's return is being blocked from the Ukrainian side. The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War told hromadske that efforts to secure his return have remained part of the negotiating process, while the Ukrainian ombudsman's office said there were no legal or other obstacles on Ukraine's side.
“The main obstacle to Ihor Kolykhaiev's release and return to Ukraine is the position and actions of the Russian Federation, which continues to illegally detain Ukrainian civilians and does not ensure their return,” the ombudsman's office said.
Davydenko also said he did not believe Kolykhaiev's continued captivity was the result of political sabotage by Ukrainian authorities, pointing instead to Russia's reluctance to release prominent civilians.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians remain in Russian captivity
Kolykhaiev is one of thousands of Ukrainian civilians who remain in Russian captivity or whose fate after being detained by Russian forces is unknown.
Around 2,500 Ukrainian civilians have been verified as currently being held by Russia, according to Davydenko, citing figures also confirmed by Ukraine's ombudsman's office.
Ukraine has information indicating that roughly another 4,000 civilians were captured by Russian forces, but their current whereabouts are unknown.
The fate of about 16,000 other Ukrainian civilians listed as missing also remains unknown.