Ukrainian prisoners of war endure months of torture in Russian prisons, UN report reveals
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Ukrainian prisoners of war are being tortured for months in Russian captivity, according to a report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
In the current report, the Commission focused on cases of torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war and described the horrific treatment of them in several places of detention in Russia.
The report states that the Russian authorities tortured civilians whom they suspected of collaborating with the Ukrainian armed forces to obtain information. In the case of prisoners of war, the perpetrators also used torture to punish and intimidate them.
The International Commission found similar methods of torture in different places of detention. Together, these elements confirm that the Russian authorities systematically used torture.
In the Russian Federation, POWs were tortured by members of the special forces units of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation and by regular staff of this service who are prison guards. Victims reported that interrogations were also conducted by FSB officers.
The testimonies of the victims show the ruthlessness and cruelty of this treatment, which caused the victims severe pain and suffering during their prolonged detention. All this was done with blatant disregard for human dignity and caused long-term physical and mental trauma.
One Ukrainian serviceman who was detained and tortured by Russian authorities in several places of detention described his experience in a penal colony in Donskoy, Tula region, where he was constantly tortured, suffering broken bones, broken teeth, and gangrene on his injured foot.
"I lost all hope and the will to live," the soldier says, adding that he tried to commit suicide, but the perpetrators started beating him.
After his release from captivity, the soldier was hospitalized 36 times.
Executions of Ukrainian prisoners
The Russian military shot 6 captured Ukrainian soldiers while they were leaving the Zenit position in Avdiivka. Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubynets appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN to investigate the circumstances of the shooting of the soldiers executed during the Ukrainian Armed Forces' withdrawal from Avdiivka.
In addition, the Russian occupiers shot Ukrainian prisoners of war between the villages of Ivanivske and Khromove in the Donetsk region. An investigation into this fact has been launched.
