Journalists from Slidstvo.Info, in collaboration with the KibORG project, identified Nikita Pushkarev, an employee of Penal Colony No. 12 in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov Oblast, Russian Federation, who systematically abused Ukrainian prisoners. Those released from captivity told Slidstvo.Info that one of the civilian prisoners, Maksym Vashchenko, did not survive Pushkarev’s beating and died.
“He had some stomach issues and couldn’t eat. One day, he (Nikita Pushkarev, ed.) came and started stuffing bread into his mouth. And he started beating him, beating him, beating him until everything was over…,” said Ruslan, a former captive, about the circumstances of Maksym Vashchenko’s death.
During a conversation with Slidstvo.Info, prison guard Nikita Pushkarev confirmed that he still works at the Kamensk-Shakhtinsky colony and did not deny the abuse of prisoners.
This is stated in the Slidstvo.Info investigation.
Recently, during an interview with a journalist from Slidstvo.Info, Yevhenii Sholudko, a border guard who had been released from captivity, named the Russian prison guard who was known for his cruelty. Yevhenii said that the executioner’s name was Nikita and that he worked at Penal Colony No. 12 in the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in the Rostov Oblast of the Russian Federation.
“There was this guy named Nikita. He was the one who killed people, he had a way with his fists. He kicked me twice in the leg, and I could barely stand up after that. The guys also said that they beat people to death there. This same Nikita beat a guy to death,” said former captive Yevhenii Sholudko.
Yevhenii Sholudko
After recording this interview, the editorial staff of Slidstvo.Info began searching for the prison guard Nikita. Journalists found 15 soldiers who had been held captive where Nikita worked. After finding a man who matched his description, they sent his photos to the former prisoners.
The soldiers confirmed that the photo was of 26-year-old Nikita Pushkarev, an employee of Penal Colony No. 12 in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. Slidstvo.Info was also able to confirm that Pushkarev works in this place of captivity thanks to leaks from Russian databases, which indicate his place of work. Specifically, it is colony No. 12.
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- Nikita Pushkarev
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- Nikita Pushkarev
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- Nikita Pushkarev
‘HE LOOKED LIKE A MAN WHO HAD SAID GOODBYE TO LIFE. HOW COULD YOU HIT HIM?’
Those released from captivity told Slidstvo.Info that in 2022, prison guard Nikita Pushkarev killed civilian captive Maksym Vashchenko in the colony. The man had previously participated in the ATO, but was no longer fighting at the time of the open war. Vashchenko was detained by representatives of the occupying authorities. That is how he ended up in the Kamensk-Shakhtinsky colony in the Russian Federation.
“He had some stomach issue or something like that, so he couldn’t eat. And Nikita constantly beat him to make him eat. One day, he [Nikita Pushkarev] came and started stuffing bread into his mouth. Obviously, when someone is shoving bread into your mouth, you eat. And he says: ‘You little bastard, you’re fucking with me!’ And he started beating him, beating him, beating him until everything [was over — transl.].” says Ruslan, a former captive, about the circumstances of Maksym Vashchenko’s death.
Another released prisoner who witnessed the fatal beating said that Nikita Pushkarev struck Maksym 20 times with a stick. The man fell, and the other prisoners tried to revive him and performed CPR. But the prison guard Pushkarev simply walked away.
“He (Maksym Vashchenko, ed.) refused to eat, hardly spoke, lost a lot of weight, and was constantly apathetic. He constantly stared at the floor and looked like a man who had already said goodbye to life. How could anyone beat this man?” asks another soldier, Yaroslav Rumiantsev, who was held in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky.
Maksym Vashchenko
“A forensic medical examination is underway, which will make it possible to establish the cause of death. Unfortunately, the bodies of the deceased arrive in Ukraine a long time after repatriation, and very often in a condition that complicates the conduct of an effective forensic medical examination,” says Taras Semkiv, head of the second department of the Office of the Prosecutor General’s Department for Combating Crimes Committed in Conditions of Armed Conflict.
Taras Semkiv
‘YOU HAVE A PUNCHING BAG THAT WILL CREATE LIVE EMOTIONS’
In addition, Nikita Pushkarev systematically beat other prisoners.
Former prisoner of war Oleksandr Husakov, who spent more than three years in captivity, says that Pushkarev practised his blows on Ukrainians, as if they were ‘living punching bags’.
“He’s just a cruel man. That’s his character — he likes to exaggerate his ego.’He came in, used some fancy, cool move to knock a guy down. He just grabbed an old man, walked up to him, punched him in the stomach and said, ‘See, how I am!’. The old man bent over, coughing, and he boasted to a special forces soldier, ‘Can you knock him down?’. The special forces soldier walked up and punched him.
They are simply playing around because they can, because they have the opportunity to do so. When you practise your moves in the gym, you do it on training equipment or with a sparring partner. You have to control where you strike. But here you have a ‘punching bag’ that will create real emotions,” says Oleksandr Husakov.
Oleksandr Husakov
Another released prisoner, Oleksandr Stepanov, witnessed how Russian Nikita Pushkarev punished Ukrainians who worked in the canteen for allegedly doing something wrong.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. How can you torment people like that? He made them squat, then put them against the wall and beat them with his feet and hands. And I saw it all with my own eyes, how he did it all. He would run up to jump and kick them,” recalls Oleksandr Stepanov.
Once, Nikita Pushkarev punished prisoners en masse because one of them asked to eat onion tails while working in the greenhouse.
“Once we had to pick onions for the staff. And he (one of the prisoners, ed.) asked a staff member, ‘Can I eat the onion tail?’ And he said to him, ‘Ah, so you’re not getting enough to eat, you don’t have enough food?!’ He tells this to Nikita. Nikita punishes us en masse. That is, we spend three hours in tears and sweat, doing physical exercises,” says former prisoner Yaroslav Rumiantsev.
Yaroslav Rumiantsev
NIKITA PUSHKAREV WAS PROMOTED IN THE COLONY WHILE HE WAS ABUSING UKRAINIANS
Slidstvo.Info, in collaboration with the KibORG project, found out that Nikita Pushkarev has been working in the Kamensk-Shakhtinsky colony since 2019.
Soldier Oleksandr, who was returned to Ukraine in October 2025, said that for some time Pushkarev went to work once every three or four days, taking daily shifts. But in 2023, Pushkarev was promoted and given an officer’s rank, so he started working in the colony five days a week.
“He started as an ensign, I think, and was promoted to second lieutenant or lieutenant. I think he was promoted in 2023. That is, when they started using all these means of physical force against us,” says Oleksandr.
Nikita Pushkarev’s career advancement in Penal Colony No. 12 is also reflected in his income. According to information obtained by Slidstvo.Info from Russian databases, Pushkarev’s income increased in 2023. At that time, his annual income was over 567,000 roubles. This is approximately 250,000 hryvnia.
Slidstvo.Info contacted Nikita Pushkarev under a false pretence, pretending to conduct an internal investigation into his cruel treatment of prisoners of war. The journalists told Nikita that he had to write an explanation in any form, as a complaint had allegedly been filed against him. Pushkarev was initially reluctant to believe the cover story, but eventually responded.
Nikita Pushkarev: I don’t understand what statement?
Slidstvo.Info: There is a lawyer who has visited the management several times and written a statement about illegal methods of influence on two or three Ukrainian citizens. They beat, kill and so on. The events took place in 2023, I think. I have a question: are you still in the 12th colony? You haven’t been transferred anywhere yet?
Nikita Pushkarev: Yes, yes, yes. Still in the twelfth. So what, I’ll just write back and that’s it? I don’t get off work until 5 or 6 in the evening, only then will I be able to respond. At first, I thought it was a scam. I played dumb. I thought I’d joke around.
After sending Pushkarev a statement describing the circumstances of the death of prisoner Maksym Vashchenko, which the prison guard was supposed to explain, he stopped responding to calls and messages.
It should be noted that Nikita Pushkarev is registered on the Russian social network Odnoklassniki, where he indicates that he lives in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and publishes photos from his time in the army.
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- Nikita Pushkarev
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In May 2024, the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Rostov oblast published a photo of the staff of Penitentiary Colony No. 12, which includes Nikita Pushkarev.
Nikita’s mother, Yelena Pushkareva (Bardier), appears to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. On her page on Odnoklassniki, she posts photos of her younger daughter alongside Russian military personnel.
Photo published by Yelena Pushkareva on Odnoklassniki
On holidays, Yelena dresses her daughter in a dress in the colours of the Russian flag or a Soviet uniform with a St. George’s ribbon.
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- Photo published by Yelena Pushkareva on Odnoklassniki
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- Photo published by Yelena Pushkareva on Odnoklassniki
Journalists from Slidstvo.Info called Yelena Pushkareva:
Yelena Pushkareva: Yes, I’m listening.
Slidstvo.Info: Is Nikita Oleksandrovych Pushkarev your son?
Yelena Pushkareva: Well, let’s say so.
Slidstvo.Info: I would like to get some information about your son.
Yelena Pushkareva: He is a good son, loving. He never talks about his work.
Slidstvo.Info: Are you aware that he simply beat a man to death?
Yelena Pushkareva: No. This is the first time I’ve heard about it.
Slidstvo.Info: Tell me, how long has he been working in Colony No. 12?
Yelena Pushkareva: Since the army.
Slidstvo.Info: And in what year did he finish his service?
Yelena Pushkareva: In 2019. Did he beat him badly?
Slidstvo.Info: Well, he killed him.
Yelena Pushkareva: What do you mean?
Slidstvo.Info: Literally. He hit him 20 times with a baton.
Yelena Pushkareva: No way.
Slidstvo.Info also identified the management of Penal Colony No. 12. Since April 2022, the prison has been run by 44-year-old Anatoliy Kaplunov. According to the Federal Penitentiary Service website, Kaplunov has five deputies: Sergei Privalov, Alexander Dorogan, Vyacheslav Volyntsev, Denis Khusainov, and Vladimir Golovin.
“They knew about it. If they pretended not to know, that’s not how it works. There was even a situation when, during a medical examination, a person’s clothes were removed, and he was covered in bruises from beating with sticks. The colony chief came in and started asking, “Who did this?!” What a farce,” says former prisoner Yaroslav Rumiantsev.
Prosecutor Taras Semkiv adds that the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners often occurs with the connivance and instructions not only of the prison administration, but also of the leadership of the relevant Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation.
“This has the hallmarks of a deliberate Russian policy towards Ukrainian citizens who find themselves in places of detention on the territory of the Russian Federation,” says Semkiv.
