By Olha Chepil | 2026-07-21

Eleven-year-old Yulia came to Independence Square in Kyiv carrying a poster she drew herself. It read "Return my mom" above a portrait of Natalia Vlasova. Yulia has not seen her for seven years, since the age of four.

"I remember her black hair, her eyes... and her very beautiful voice," Yulia told Kontur.

On June 19 -- the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict -- the group "Numo, Sestry!" ("Come on, Sisters!") gathered in the Ukrainian capital with 47 portraits of civilian Ukrainian women held in Russian prisons, joined by former captives, relatives of detained women and rights defenders.

A mother still missing

Forces in the occupied Donetsk region detained Vlasova and two other civilians on March 21, 2019, accusing them of cooperating with Ukrainian intelligence. They held her at the Izolyatsia prison camp before moving her through pretrial detention centers in Donetsk and Rostov. A Russian court sentenced her to 18 years in December 2024.

During her trial, Vlasova testified that she had suffered torture and rape, but the court disregarded her statements.

Yulia lives with her grandmother and father, is entering sixth grade, and attends every rally. She visits newly released women in the hospital, searches for anyone who crossed paths with her mother, and connects with other children of captives.

"My mom loved animals very much," Yulia said, showing her poster.

Liudmyla Huseinova, head of "Numo, Sestry!", has stood beside Yulia at rallies for three years running. Last year they brought the poster to the Presidential Office.

"For three years in a row, this girl has come to remind everyone about her mother," Huseinova told Kontur. "What are we supposed to tell her? What should the world say to her? Why can't this girl see her mom?"

Vlasova remains imprisoned in the Rostov region, and advocates fear she may be transferred even farther, possibly to Siberia. Contact with her has been virtually lost.

No time left

Huseinova spent more than three years in Russian captivity, surviving torture and sexual violence, before founding "Numo, Sestry!" in 2022 to support female captives and their families.

"We know the horrors happening inside those prisons right now," Huseinova said. "We went through it all ourselves."

At least 80% of Ukrainian women released from Russian captivity survived sexual violence, and nearly all endured some form of torture, Huseinova said.

A year ago, "Numo, Sestry!" held up a portrait of Yulia Panina on the same square; today she stands nearby, free. She returned home August 25, 2025. Before her arrest, she worked at an ice cream plant in Snizhne; her captors targeted her over friendships with people in government-controlled Ukraine and her pro-Ukrainian views.

"Rebuilding your life is incredibly hard. I cannot say I am rehabilitated yet. The process of socialization continues," Panina told Kontur. She is training to become a psychologist.

Panina came to the protest holding a portrait of her former cellmate and best friend, Anzhela Ostapchuk, who still faces three and a half more years in detention.

"We faced 12-hour workdays sewing uniforms," Panina said. "They deny you decent food. The mental and physical abuse is constant."

The case of Victoria Roshchyna, a journalist who died in Russian captivity, underscored the demonstrators' urgency. Her body was returned in February 2025 in a bag labeled "unidentified male," missing several internal organs.

"We came here to say that time has run out. Look at Victoria Roshchyna's portrait," Lina Kushch, head of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and a board member of "Numo, Sestry!", told the gathering. She said arbitrary detention of Ukrainian women shows where it leads, and the outcome is already known.

Kushch said four Ukrainian female journalists remain in Russian captivity. Forces detained journalist Iryna Levchenko in occupied Melitopol in May 2023, and she remains in a Simferopol pretrial detention facility without a verdict, her sister, Olena Rudenko, said.

"She has spent more than three years in captivity. Her case is classified, and they have brought no official charges," Olena told Kontur. Some women held with her sister have relatives unaware they are even captive, she said.

Left out of talks

Kushch said the rally aimed to show solidarity and highlight how prisoner exchanges leave women almost entirely out of negotiations.

"Numo, Sestry!" has submitted lists of nearly 40 identified female captives to Ukraine's Presidential Office, the Coordination Headquarters, the Ombudsman's Office, the Vatican and the White House.

Two years ago, four human rights groups asked United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres to cite Russia officially for its systematic use of sexual violence against civilians. The UN recently added Russia to its annual list of offenders -- a move Huseinova called a "small victory."

"This proves that every single word we say matters," Huseinova said.

Russia has refused to share data on the number of women it holds, so the true total remains unknown. The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War recognizes more than 400 women based on verified identities, though "Numo, Sestry!" believes the real number is closer to 2,000.