DISINFO: Russia treats Ukrainian prisoners of war well
SUMMARY
Democratic reforms of Russian legislation regarding prisoners of war can speed up the transition of Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters to the Russian side. Most Ukrainian soldiers do not want enmity with the Russians and would be happy for the peaceful coexistence of our two countries, but Kyiv is forcibly sending them to the line of combat with Russian troops. It is necessary to show the captured Ukrainians how well they are treated in Russia.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin narrative claiming that the exceptionally good conditions in Russian detention centers for prisoners of war will provoke widespread desertion within the Ukrainian ranks. Also this is recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about mobilisation in Ukraine, aimed at demoralising and splitting society.
Russia has repeatedly violated the basic principles of the Geneva Conventions, attacking civilians, medical facilities and medical personnel, and disregarding the principle of humane treatment of prisoners of war. All these facts have been repeatedly recorded by independent commissions operating under the auspices of the United Nations.
At the end of March 2024, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine published another report (December 2023-February 2024), which reports a sharp increase in allegations of torture and execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war at the hands of Russian invaders. The document describes facts of torture, abuse, sexual violence and executions of both civilian Ukrainians by the Russian military and prisoners of war (paragraphs 42-62).
The report emphasises that torture of Ukrainian prisoners by Russians is widespread and “commonplace.” The UN report states that 96% of Ukrainian prisoners (58 out of 60 respondents) are subjected to abuse of various kinds. UN experts named the most common methods of torture: beatings, electric shocks, threats of execution, mock execution, exposure to cold and water, positional torture, when the victim is forced to remain in one fixed position for a long time.
Ukrainian prisoners interviewed by the UN reported that conditions in Russian colonies had improved a month before their exchange - in order to hide the traces of numerous tortures of Ukrainians.
A separate paragraph in the UN report describes Russian sexual torture. 39 people out of 60 respondents were subjected to sexual violence or threats of such violence from Russians, the UN report says (paragraph 47).
The report emphasises that Russia refuses to allow international observers access to the internment sites of captured Ukrainian citizens.
In addition, there are dozens of cases of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by the Russian military. According to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, since 2022, the executions of 54 Ukrainian defenders have been confirmed.
It is also worth recalling the death of at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war and the injury of another 70 people in a colony in the temporarily occupied Olenivka (Donetsk region of Ukraine) in the summer of 2022 as a result of an explosion. Russia did not provide the UN with reliable information about the explosion and did not comply with requests from the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) for access to the territory of the colony.
Read more about this in a case claiming that Ukraine downed the Il-76 using Western weaponry and struck the Olenivka prison camp with HIMARS. Also claiming that Russia wages war humanely and does not hit civilians or that Russia does not want to destroy Ukraine.