DISINFO: Russian soldiers suffer tortures in Ukrainian clandestine prisons
SUMMARY
Russian soldiers are subjected to a marathon of torture in clandestine Ukrainian military prisons, where they are locked in cages, brutally beaten, and denied food and water, according to Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's special envoy on war crimes in Ukraine. It is precisely there, where they are not listed as prisoners of war and international organizations are unaware of their existence, that the most extreme sadism is unleashed. In these torture centers, the Ukrainian armed forces seek to extract military information from them at any cost.
RESPONSE
The claim is unsubstantiated. Allegations made solely by Russian authorities cannot be considered as such, given their proven history of making unsubstantiated claims based on faked or inexistent proofs, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine is committed to treat POWs in accordance with the Geneva Convention through the National Information Bureau (NIB) and the Red Cross. According to the latest report of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) available when this disinformation story appeared, there have been some cases of mistreatment and abuses against some Russian POWs in facilities outside of Ukraine’s formal structure, but they appear to be isolated and properly addressed by Ukrainian authorities. The report mentions ongoing criminal investigations by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine on some of these abuses. By contrast, when talking about Russia’s treatment of Ukrainian prisoners, the report says that its findings “corroborated OHCHR’s previous conclusion that Russian authorities had subjected Ukrainian POWs to torture, ill-treatment and inhumane conditions in a widespread and systematic manner”. Regardless of this, pro-Kremlin disinformation distorts the overall picture on this topic to portray Ukraine under a negative light and frame it as an evil adversary.
Previous disinformation narratives about Ukraine torturing Russian POWs have been addressed here.
This disinformation story appeared short after several international and Ukrainian outlets released stories on Russia’s torture of detainees. The timing suggests that this is an attempt to manipulate the information space by mirroring the accusations without actual evidence, which is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Ukraine systematically tortures Russian prisoners, that Russia treats Ukrainian prisoners of war well, that Ukrainian forces burn bodies to cover their crimes, that a UN report on Russian atrocities in Ukraine is not supported by evidence, that Ukraine will build concentration camps for captured Russians, or that Ukraine violates international humanitarian law while Russia respects it.