Maksym Butkevych is a prominent Ukrainian human rights defender. Before the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he dedicated his efforts to the protection of people whose rights were violated.

When Russia launched its war against Ukraine, Maksym joined the Ukrainian army to defend his country.

In June 2022, he was taken prisoner of war by Russia and accused of committing a war crime. The case was entirely fabricated: Russia sought to “balance” the real war crimes committed by the Russian soldiers in Ukraine and prosecuted by Ukrainian courts with invented charges against Ukrainian prisoners of war. Maksym was sentenced to 13 years in prison. He spent almost two and a half years behind bars in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories before being freed in a prisoner exchange in October 2024. He endured beatings, deprivations, and torture, but his spirit remained unbroken.

We met with Maksym in late August 2025. Our conversation turned philosophical—about life and death, freedom and fear, hope and despair.

***

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

UkraineWorld is an English-language media about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine

You can support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld

Your contributions are essential — we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we support both civilians and soldiers.

Donations are welcome via PayPal: [email protected]

***

CONTENTS:

00:00 - Intro. Who is Maksym Butkevych

02:23 - Maksym’s recollections of Russian captivity

08:16 - The role of violence in Russian captivity

12:30 - How does the Russian machine distort the law

22:33 - Death and fear as key elements of the Russian violence system

29:07 - Staying yourself in captivity

37:17 - Is it possible to survive in captivity without thinking about love?

45:01 - Outro

45:41 - Support us: https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld

***

The podcast is produced by UkraineWorld with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as a part of the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine - a Driver towards Reforms and Democracy project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia, funded by Norway and Sweden. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of UkraineWorld and can in no way be taken to reflect the views the Government of Norway, the Government of Sweden and ISAR Ednannia.