Photo: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
During his speech at the forum “Genocidal Practices of the Russian Federation in Ukraine: from the Holodomor to the Russian-Ukrainian War”, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine’s representative Andrii Yusov spoke about the facts concerning the system of violations of the rights of prisoners of war in Russia. He focused on the methods of torture used against Ukrainian soldiers and described how these violations became part of the aggressor state’s strategy. According to the Time Ukraine Israel portal, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, more than 95% of Ukrainian soldiers released from Russian captivity were victims of torture or other violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.
The system of torture and deliberate hacking
Yusov stressed that in most cases, torture is not used to obtain important information, but is intended to break not only the physical resistance of prisoners, but also their personality, humiliate them, break their spirit and force them to give up what is important to them.
“This is not just torture to obtain information. This is deliberate abuse to break a person’s resistance, to break their personality, to humiliate them and make them give up everything that is important to them. Or to make them break the person next to them,” Yusov said.
Specialised training and lack of control
Andrey Yusov emphasised that Russia has a whole system of training specialists who are trained in various types of torture. He noted that torture methods in Russia are described in special training programmes, and teachers of this “skill” are specially trained to use violence against prisoners.
“These are methods that no representative of a civilised Western country can imagine,” Yusov stressed.
He also stressed that the international organisations that are supposed to monitor the implementation of the Geneva Conventions are not actually working. Russia does not allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit places of detention, ignoring even the possibility of exchanging military personnel.
“The ICRC, although it has all the tools to protect the rights of prisoners, is actually unable to carry out its functions on the territory of Russia, and in many cases their activities would be much more effective,” Yusov added.
Ukrainian response to these crimes
Despite all the difficulties, Ukraine continues to work to return its citizens from captivity. Since the full-scale invasion, 58 exchanges have already taken place, as a result of which almost 4,000 Ukrainians have returned home. However, thousands more remain in captivity.
“We must continue to fight for everyone – for our military and civilians. This is our duty, and we will not stop until they all return home,” Yusov stressed.
Russia’s actions against prisoners and violations of international norms are an example of cruel and ruthless aggression. The international community must respond to these crimes and prevent further abuse of Ukrainian citizens. Ukraine, in turn, continues to fight for its people, despite the complexity of the situation.
