Entrepreneur from Lviv region kept classmate in slavery for 23 years

A 71-year-old resident of the city of Horodok in Lviv region held his classmate in conditions of de facto slavery from 2002 until the end of September 2025. This was reported by the Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, which published footage of the investigative proceedings.

More than 20 years ago, the victim’s sister approached a local entrepreneur with a request to find separate housing for her 47-year-old brother, who had a problem with alcohol. The businessman, a former classmate of the man, offered him paid household work with accommodation on his own property. Over time, however, the employment turned into labor exploitation: the entrepreneur stripped the victim of freedom of movement and took away his passport.

For 23 years, the man received no money for his work. According to law enforcement, the “employer” paid him exclusively with food, cigarettes, and shelter, keeping him in complete dependency. The businessman subjected his classmate to both psychological and physical abuse — beating him with a stick, shouting at him, and humiliating him, including for “poor-quality” work.

“From March to October, the victim was taken to the grounds of an agricultural enterprise to guard the plot and periodically tend to pigs. He had to live in a metal container with no windows, light, water, heating, or toilet. During the cold months, the man lived in an outbuilding near the businessman’s three-story house. The space was heated by a wood-burning stove, but heat did not stay in due to a poorly fitting door. Because of the concrete floor, the absence of water, a place to prepare food, and a proper toilet, the conditions were unfit for habitation. The entrepreneur ignored his classmate’s complaints about his health,” — law enforcement reported.

The victim is now 72 years old and spent nearly a third of his life in captivity. A medical examination revealed cardiovascular disease, hand injuries, and a complete absence of teeth. A psychological examination established that the constant physical and psychological abuse, isolation, and deprivation of basic needs had suppressed the victim’s will: he lost the ability to resist and to live independently in society.

The victim is currently in a geriatric care home, where he is receiving the necessary treatment and care. The accused entrepreneur has been charged with recruiting and transporting a person for the purpose of exploitation, using deception and the vulnerable condition of the individual, as well as the use of violence.

Previously, a farmer near Kharkiv was exposed for keeping displaced persons in slavery. It also became known that a rehabilitation center in Kyiv region had enslaved around 50 drug addicts.