Moscow and Kyiv regularly exchange prisoners, returning some 3 600 Ukrainian POWs and citizens, but at least 177 Ukrainian prisoners have died in Russian custody since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine, according to the latest Ukrainian Defence Ministry figures, while thousands are believed to remain in Russian custody, putting them at high risk, on Friday, the 4th of October, reports Politico.
“The more time they spend in Russian prisons, the closer to death they are,” said Viktoriia Tsymbaliuk, a spokeswoman for the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a unit of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.
Tsymbaliuk said that in the absence of international monitoring, the real number of deaths in Russian custody is likely to be much higher. “This is the figure we have,” she said, because “not all the bodies have been returned” and Russia does not confirm that many are in captivity.
Russia’s mistreatment of prisoners has been widely reported for years,
and its crackdown on civil society has contributed to a normalisation of violence and a culture of impunity among prison officials.
For Ukrainian POWs, it is even worse, according to a report published on Thursday by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which found that torture of captured military officers is “widespread and systematic” and is carried out with the blessing of the Russian leadership.
“Some public figures in the Russian Federation have openly encouraged the inhuman treatment and even killing of Ukrainian POWs,” the report said.
The report also noted that since March 2023, 11 deaths of Ukrainians have been recorded, as well as an unspecified number of suicide attempts and “one documented case of suicide allegedly due to repeated acts of torture”.
Danylo Kravets, a 23-year-old drone pilot from Lviv, after being captured near Vuhledar in November 2022, lived 175 days in captivity in four different prisons before being released in exchange last April.
“Torture, beatings – that was my daily life,” he coldly told Politico.
After his capture, he was made to choose between losing a finger or a leg and was subjected to a mock execution.
When he arrived at the prison in Donetsk, “our heads were covered and we were ordered to undress,” he said. “They always make us undress,” he said, describing what happened next as “sexual violence”.
The guards broke his legs because of a tattoo they said showed he was likely to escape, with Kravets, who lost 16 kilogrammes in captivity, saying “they know how to find a reason to torture or beat you up”.
The UN has documented severe abuse of POWs, including starvation, forcing them to eat worms, soap or paper, as well as torture methods such as needles under the fingernails, asphyxiation and threats of animal attacks. Prisoners were also forced to sing Russian patriotic songs and watch others being tortured.
Under the Geneva Conventions, countries at war must allow independent observers access to prisoners and contact with their families, but according to the UN, Russia has repeatedly failed to comply with this requirement. Tsymbaliuk said Russia refuses to confirm the whereabouts of thousands of prisoners, leaving their families in anguish and in the dark about whether their loved ones are alive.
Kateryna Nazariia said she had not spoken to or heard from her husband since he was captured near Mariupol 830 days ago. Every time her phone rings, she feels fear because she worries it will bring news of her husband’s death.
“We are going back to the Middle Ages,” she said. “If the world is silent now, Russia will take it as a sign that it can continue with impunity.”
The UN also listed cases of torture of Russian POWs captured by Ukrainians but noted that these stopped as soon as they entered the prison system. Independent observers have unrestricted access to Russian POWs.