17-year-old Ukrainian describes his experience as a prisoner of war

Vlad Buryak, 17, was traveling in a car on the morning of April 8 and stopped at a Russian checkpoint. Within hours, he would end up in a Russian prison.

Russian soldiers had seen his cellphone and accused him of filming him, he told ABC News’ Britt Clennett during an interview held over Zoom. They took his phone and while checking his photos and social media, they found a pro-Ukrainian Telegram group.

The soldiers were furious, he said, and threatened to kill him on the spot. Instead, he was taken to a filtration camp and then to a prison where he would spend 48 days before eventually being released.

Thousands of Ukrainians have reportedly been held as prisoners of war and hundreds of thousands have been forcibly deported from the country through so-called filtration camps.

The experience of children during the war, which has stretched over six months, has been uniquely traumatic and provides a chilling portrait into the painful reality on the ground in Ukraine.