CNN
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Iryna Danilovich vanished while heading home from work in April 2022. It took two weeks for Russian officials to confirm her detention. This dedicated human rights advocate and nurse was taken into custody in the Russian-occupied region of Crimea, charged with illegal possession of explosives and sentenced to seven years in prison. During her trial, she reported being subjected to torture while imprisoned.

She is now held in a notoriously harsh women’s penal facility located in Zelenokumsk, southern Russia. Despite her ongoing health issues, including persistent headaches, she is reportedly denied the ability to sit or lie down throughout the day, as reported by the human rights monitoring organization Zmina.

Ukraine consistently refers to its territories under Russian rule as “temporarily occupied areas,” asserting its intent to reclaim them eventually. However, this aspiration is increasingly under threat. Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump stated it seems “unlikely” that Ukraine will regain much territory during the anticipated peace discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Danilovich’s plight—mirroring that of thousands of others detained in Russia—underscores the stakes for Ukraine.

Trump’s remarks followed a 90-minute telephone conversation with Putin earlier this week, igniting concern nationwide as many doubt Putin’s sincerity in negotiations.

Yuliya Kazdobina, an expert in foreign policy with Ukrainian Prism, a think tank, expressed skepticism regarding Putin’s desire for peace.

“We’ve endured numerous years of negotiations with the Russian regime,” she stated. Russia has a long history of making and breaching agreements with Ukraine. In 1994, Ukraine relinquished its nuclear arsenal in exchange for assurances from the United States, United Kingdom, and Russia to uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. After illegally annexing Crimea in 2014 and igniting conflict in Eastern Ukraine, Moscow signed a ceasefire agreement in 2015, only to violate it repeatedly, culminating in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine seven years later.

“We know that Russia is highly duplicitous; they can project friendliness, but when it comes to making real compromises for peace, they fail to do so,” Kazdobina told CNN.

In response to Trump’s conversation with Putin, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that his nation would reject any peace agreement brokered between the U.S. and Russia without Ukraine’s participation.

“As a sovereign nation, we cannot accept any agreements made without our involvement. I communicate this clearly to our allies. We will not endorse bilateral discussions regarding Ukraine without our presence,” Zelensky remarked, noting that Trump’s initial outreach to Putin was “dismaying.”

The sentiment among Ukrainians aligns with their leader. In Kyiv, student Nazar Voloshenko articulated that any negotiations leading to further territorial losses would spell disaster for Ukraine.

“We could end up losing the currently occupied regions, including parts of Kherson, the Zaporizhzhia area, and the long-afflicted Crimea,” he expressed. “We must reclaim what rightfully belongs to us.”

Currently, Russian forces occupy nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory, an increase from the approximately 7% they controlled prior to their unprovoked full-scale invasion nearly three years ago.

Ukrainian authorities report that around 6 million individuals, including 1 million children, exist under Russian occupation, leading to what the United Nations describes as a “dire human rights situation.”

Crimea has been under Russian administration since its unlawful annexation by Moscow in 2014. Since that time, a harsh and oppressive regime has been imposed, effectively silencing dissent.

Maksym Vishchyk, a legal expert at Global Rights Compliance, an NGO advising Ukrainian authorities on investigating and prosecuting international crimes, noted that this pattern of oppression is evident in other occupied regions as well.

“When Russia took over Crimea, they launched a systematic campaign against communities or individuals deemed obstacles to their Russification efforts, resulting in significant damage to social structures, communities, families, and individuals,” he stated in an interview with CNN.

“Crimea has effectively served as a template. The strategies and methods employed by Russia there have been replicated in other regions they occupy, both since 2014 and during the ongoing conflict since 2022.”

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has continually reported numerous human rights violations occurring in occupied Ukraine, ranging from unlawful detentions and sexual assault to forcing individuals to adopt Russian citizenship and attend Russian schools and training programs.

Russia has categorically denied allegations of human rights violations.

Financial analyst Oleksandr Sokhatskyi expressed to CNN that any agreement altering Ukraine’s borders post-war would be unacceptable due to the profound human costs incurred during the conflict.

“Considering the countless lives lost as a result of this war, concluding it under conditions dictated by others raises the question: why did our soldiers fight and sacrifice for these regions?” he questioned.

Frontline soldiers also share doubts that negotiations between Trump and Putin could produce a resolution that would satisfy many Ukrainians.

Volodymyr Sablyn, a battalion commander in the 66th mechanized brigade, currently fighting near Lyman in eastern Ukraine, commented that allowing Russia to retain any of Ukraine’s territory could have dire repercussions.

“This will set a dangerous precedent, signaling to Russia they can invade a nation, seize its territory, and face no repercussions in the future,” he warned, noting that Russia could soon target other smaller neighboring nations.

Putin has consistently articulated his ambitions: complete control over Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Nonetheless, many Ukrainians fear that even if he initially consents to a ceasefire, he may subsequently reignite conflict to achieve his objectives.

“No one and nothing can prevent Putin from launching further attacks and occupying more regions. Should Europe and America fail to support us, any peace reached now might lead to renewed warfare in a few years,” Sablyn asserted.

Dariya Tarasova-Markina contributed to this report.