Former civilian hostage Oleg Kotov, who was illegally held captive by Russia for over four years, has died after returning to Ukraine. After his release, doctors diagnosed him with cancer with multiple metastases.

As Censor.NET reports , this was reported by the “Book of Executioners of the Ukrainian People” project, which also published a translation of Kotov’s latest interview with Austrian journalist Stefan Schocher.

Oleg Kotov was detained by Russian military personnel on April 23, 2022, at his home in the village of Kozacha Lopan in the Kharkiv region . Before the full-scale invasion, he worked in the police, and at the time of the occupation, he was already a pensioner.

According to Kotov, after the detention, Russian security forces confiscated his equipment, took him away for interrogation, and when they learned that his son served in the Kharkiv police, they began to torture him.

During his captivity, the man was held in several locations in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and Russia. He described beatings, electric shocks, mock executions, psychological pressure, and complete isolation from his family.

“This evil must be defeated,” Oleg Kotov said in one of his last interviews after his release.

It was in captivity that he learned about his serious illness. According to him, Russian doctors only spoke of “persistent pneumonia” and in fact did not provide the necessary medical care.

On June 5, 2026, Kotov was released in a prisoner exchange. After returning to Ukraine, doctors diagnosed him with cancer. At the end of July, the man died in a Kyiv hospital. According to the project, his death occurred seven days after his last interview was recorded. Джерело: https://censor.net/ua/n4017367

(C)CENSOR.NET 2026