Volodymyr Zolkin – The Voice of Truth from Ukraine. Together with “Apostle”, They Open the Eyes of Russian Prisoners

At a time when war has flooded the world with disinformation and truth has become a rare commodity, some people have chosen not to shout but to talk.
One of them is Volodymyr Zolkin – a Ukrainian journalist, documentarian, and today also a symbol of empathy and courage in the face of brutality.
His interviews with Russian prisoners of war have become more than mere conversations – they are mirrors reflecting Russian consciousness, often built on illusions and lies.

The road to truth through conversation

Zolkin began recording his interviews during the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
He was not a soldier or a politician. He was a man who understood that war could be documented differently – through words, gazes, and silence.
While others shouted, he asked: “Why did you come here?”, “Do you know which country you are in?”, “What did your commander tell you?”

His approach was calm, without aggression. Instead of humiliating, he gave the prisoners space to think.
This method made Zolkin’s project known worldwide – many Russians heard the voices of their sons, brothers, and friends for the first time, those who had disappeared on the front line.

The meeting of two paths – Zolkin and “Apostle”

At some point, Dmytro Karpenko, widely known as “Apostle” – patriot, and a man of faith and compassion – appeared on Volodymyr’s path.
Their joint recordings created a duo of extraordinary depth.
Zolkin – the journalist who asks.
Karpenko – the soldier who feels.

Where Zolkin seeks understanding, Apostle often reminds that behind every answer there is a victim, blood, and a destroyed home.
This combination of reason and emotion makes their interviews deeply moving.

Their films are lessons in humanity amid brutality – showing that even among ruins one can speak without hatred, yet without false forgiveness.

In many of his conversations, Volodymyr Zolkin is joined by Dmytro Karpenko – known as “Apostle”, a patriot whose reflections add emotional and moral depth to wartime dialogues.

👉 See also: Who is “Apostle”? – Dmytro Karpenko and his mission of truth

A phenomenon that crossed borders

Today, Zolkin’s interviews are watched by millions – not only in Ukraine but also in Russia.
In the comments under his videos, words appear that would once have sounded like heresy:

“Thank you for showing the truth. Now I understand what is really happening.”

For many Russians, his channel has become the only place where they can hear the voices of those who have already “disappeared”.
Not because of censorship, but because of the war that, in Russian media, exists only as a “special operation”.

Silence that speaks louder than propaganda

Zolkin needs no effects, no heavy editing, no pathos.
All it takes is one shot: a camera and a man – tired, dirty, lost, who yesterday still believed he was “defending his homeland”.
Then come the questions that shatter the wall of propaganda:

“What did they tell you about Ukrainians?”
“Do you see any Nazis here?”
“Do you realize how many people died because of you?”

No shouting. Only truth – sudden, painful, undeniable.

Between criticism and mission

Critics have accused him of showing prisoners and breaking conventions.
But Zolkin calmly explains that every interview is done with consent – prisoners often ask themselves for the footage to be published, so that their families know they are alive.
This is not torture. This is testimony.
That’s what makes it so different from the cynical “interviews” on Russian channels, where human beings are reduced to propaganda tools.

Meaning beyond information

What Zolkin and Karpenko do has a historical dimension.
Their recordings form an archive of consciousness – a memory of war seen through the eyes of both victims and perpetrators.
Each conversation is a small crack in the wall of lies that the Kremlin has built for decades.
They are not warriors with weapons – they are warriors of truth.

Their work reminds us that the fight for awareness can be harder than the fight on the front.
You can defeat a man with a bullet – but you can free him only with words.

Epilogue

Volodymyr Zolkin and Dmytro Karpenko are not war celebrities.
They do not seek fame.
Their mission is dialogue – because only dialogue can restore humanity where it has long been lost.

In a world that increasingly forgets the meaning of the word “truth”, their project stands as quiet evidence that even in hell, one can remain human.

“We do not fight people. We fight lies.”
— Volodymyr Zolkin

👉 See also: 📛 The terrifying truth about Russian war crimes against Ukrainian prisoners and civilians.