In this special two-part episode of Chain Reaction, Senior Fellow Rob Lee interviews Yevgeniy Malik, a squad leader in Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade. Malik fought in Mariupol during the beginning of the war and defended the Illich Iron and Steel Works. He spent more than two years in captivity in Russia as a prisoner of war from April 2022 to September 2024.

During this time Malik faced daily beatings and torture. In Part 1, Yevgeniy explains what it was like to be a prisoner of war in Russian prisons, and what the thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of war still face every day.

Please be advised that this episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners.

Part 1 - Chapters

* Introductions - 2:26

* Setting the scene in Mariupol - 5:04

* Negotiating surrender - 14:43

* Surrender at the bridge - 18:25

* Arriving in Sartana - 20:29

* Time in Olenivka prison -22:19

* Transfer into Russia - 26:37

* Time in Ryarsk prison - 30:27

* Interrogations - 46:25

* A Day in Ryarsk - 56:18

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