The horrors of Russia’s ‘filtration’ contain electrocution and beatings.

Andriy watched with concern as Russian soldiers connected his phone to their computer, ostensibly to restore some files. In early May, Andriy, a 28-year-old marketing officer, attempted to flee Mariupol. He had deleted everything he thought a Russian soldier could use against him, such as text messages about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or photos of his city’s devastation caused by weeks of relentless shelling.

However, the internet in Mariupol, a once bustling port in southern Ukraine, had been cut off as part of Russia’s siege, and Andriy had been unable to remove some of his social media posts. . He recalled the early days of the war, when he shared anti-Russian messages and speeches from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. “I’m screwed,” he realized.

Andriy told me that the soldiers had already zeroed in on him. One of the Russians noticed his beard when he first joined the filtration queues in Bezimenne, a small village east of Mariupol. The soldier took it as a sign that Andriy was a member of the city’s Azov regiment, a former militia with ties to the far right. “Are you and your mercenaries killing our guys?” Andriy was asked. He responded that he had never served in the army and had begun working immediately after graduating, but “they didn’t want to hear it.”