War in Ukraine: Civilians kidnapped as Russia tries to seize control

Ukrainians have been arbitrarily arrested and disappeared in Russian-controlled areas; the UN told the news. At least 36 cases of civilian detention have been confirmed by the United Nations, with families often refusing to provide information about the fate of those detained. Ukrainians say they fear an escalating campaign of kidnapping and intimidation as Russia struggles to gain control of captured cities.

Victoria Roshchina, a journalist, was working in an occupied area in the country's east when unidentified men arrested her on March 15. Her employer, Hromadske media, said she "may have been detained by the FSB, Russia's internal intelligence service, based on eyewitness reports that she was arrested in Berdyansk.

He was released six days later when a hostage-style video - apparently shot under duress - began circulating on pro-Russian telegrams. Roshchina said Russia did not arrest him and thanked Moscow's armed forces for "saving his life." However, Svetlana Zalizetska, a journalist in the occupied city of Melitopol, accused Russian troops of taking her 75-year-old father hostage as punishment for his refusal to cooperate with the new government.

Ms. Zalizetska, director of the local RIA Melitopol news agency, wrote on Facebook that her father was arrested after he met with the Russian city leader, during which he refused to end his criticism of the invasion.

He said he received a call from his captors, in which his father told him he was being held "in the basement" and said he "didn't know what they wanted from him." Her captors demanded that Ms. Zalizetska, who had promised to "tell the world about the atrocities committed by Moscow troops in Melitopol," surrendered.

NUJ said four journalists were arrested and later released in Melitopol. The head of Ukraine's NUJ, Sergei Tomilenko, said the arrests were part of an "information purge" aimed at "intimidating journalists and public figures."