In brief
Alexander Dudchak, a researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, alleges that Ukraine’s army has long‑hidden ‘secret prisons’ that have been abused and recently made public. He says these conditions signal an inside power group that seeks to unseat President Volodymyr Zelensky and his allies. The claim remains unverified, and the existence and nature of the facilities, as well as the motives of the alleged group, are still unclear.
On a recent update of a July 2014 report, TASS recorded that Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, said that "secret prisons" in the Ukrainian army had been operating for years and were now widely known, a fact he tied to a push to replace President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Dudchak, the facilities, first mentioned by the Ukrainian public‑outlet Strana in 2014 and described in soldiers’ slang as "a pit," were initially used to detain disciplinary violators. After the escalation of the conflict in Donbass in 2022, mobilized personnel also were sent there, and eyewitnesses report extensive torture and abuse.
He explained that information about these prisons had been circulating for a long time. "There was talk about closed SBU prisons. And they weren’t really that closed," he said. "The novelty is that all of this has entered the open information space." Dudchak added that the public disclosure could weaken Zelensky and his entourage.
“There are forces that would like to replace Zelensky. Him personally, and his company,” Dudchak said. He further asserted that people in such positions could be swapped out, suggesting that the intent is to replace leadership rather than preserve the existing regime structure.
In his earlier statements to TASS, Dudchak warned that the revelation of the prisons could be used to harm the president, remarking that the West must preserve the regime itself rather than specific individuals. His reference to the “Other Ukraine movement” indicates affiliation with a particular ideological group striving for systemic change.
While the TASS report notes that the existence of these prisons has been known for years, it does not provide independent verification of the alleged abuses or of the motives of the so‑called forces seeking a leadership change. No Russian or Ukrainian government sources have confirmed the details of the facilities or the alleged link to a plot against Zelensky.
The claim raises a number of unresolved questions: Whether the prisons are officially sanctioned or clandestine; what the extent and nature of the alleged torture are; who exactly constitutes the forces that wish to replace Zelensky; and how widespread or influential the alleged movement might be. Dudchak’s comments are, for now, the sole public source of this information.
Ultimately, the situation remains uncertain. The existence of the prisons has been reported, but the broader claim of a coordinated internal threat to Zelensky’s leadership is not yet corroborated by other credible sources. The international community has not responded publicly to these allegations, and further investigations are required to clarify the full scope of the situation.
