Monday Briefing

Former Ukrainian prisoners of war show signs of trauma

Many Ukrainian prisoners of war return with physical and psychological wounds after enduring torture from their Russian captors. Once back in Ukraine, they are often improperly treated and returned to duty too early, according to former prisoners, officials and psychologists familiar with individual cases.

Russia’s torture of prisoners of war has been well documented by the U.N., with former inmates speaking of relentless beatings, electric shocks, rape, sexual violence and mock executions. One expert described the torture as systematic.

More than 10,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war remain in Russian custody, and nearly 3,000 have been released from Russia in prisoner exchanges since the invasion began. Most of the released prisoners return to active duty after about three months of rest and rehabilitation. Critics say they need more rest, but the Ukrainian military, short of troops on the front line, has given relatively few medical exemptions to former prisoners of war.

Suspected spies for China are appearing in Europe

Six people in three separate cases were charged last week in Europe with spying for China — two in Britain and four in Germany. The espionage cases, the first of their kind in two countries that once cultivated warm relations with Beijing, served as exclamation points in Europe’s long, often anguished breakup with China.

China experts said that the arrests indicated that European countries were toughening their response to Beijing’s meddling. China’s foreign ministry dismissed the charges as groundless.

MORE TOP NEWS

My colleague David Marchese interviewed the actress Anne Hathaway for our new series, The Interview.

“I find it hard to imagine that people would be interested in me,” Hathaway said. “That’s one reason that I don’t know that I’m a very good celebrity. I don’t really know where the walls are between being intimate and narcissism and self-regard.” Here’s their whole conversation.

Lives lived: The sound engineer Bob Heil brought rich sonic coloring to tours by rock titans like the Who. He died at 83.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

SPORTS NEWS

A decade of the Upshot

Ten years ago last week, The New York Times introduced the Upshot, a section devoted to explaining “politics, policy and everyday life.” That’s a wide scope, by design, and more than 5,000 articles later, the Upshot has been many things to many readers.

Here are some favorites:

The Upshot’s editors chose those four articles, and 96 more, to represent what they do. You can see them here.

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