Ukrainian ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova visited a hospital where Ukrainian servicemen released from russian captivity are being treated. Most of them were taken prisoner near Mariupol.
They said that they were first kept in basements and outbuildings, then convoyed to a guardhouse, a pre-trial detention center in Donetsk and a correctional colony №120 on the occupied territory of Ukraine. After that they were relocated to the Taganrog and Voronezh pre-trial remand centre.
During the convoying, Ukrainian prisoners of war, according to their words, were blindfolded, sacks were put on their heads, and their hands were tied. They were also threatened with murder, beaten and humiliated, Denisova said on her Facebook page.
Officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Azov fighters were tortured with the special cruelty. During interrogations, Ukrainian prisoners of war were brought to their knees, had their toes hit by the guns, they were beaten on open wounds, the pliers were used against them, they were choked with a noose put on their necks, as well as tortured with electricity.
The Ukrainian soldiers also said that in captivity they were injected with an unknown drug, the name of which started with the letter “M”. After it they lost their consciousness and memory.
In addition, they said that they were forced to learn the poem “Forgive us, dear russians” by heart, the anthem of the russian federation, and the history of the creation of the emblem and flag of the russian federation, otherwise the occupiers used tortures.
Ukrainian female prisoners of war who were held in the Donetsk pre-trial detention centre said that at least 17 to 20 people were held in two- or three-person cells. There were no hygiene products and the opportunity to wash, instead of a toilet – a bucket. In front of their eyes, male prisoners of war were brutally beaten. Women were also forced to participate in sexual intercourses.
Former prisoners said they were not provided with vital medical care, restricted in water and food, and were not allowed to call relatives.
“Ukrainians were not given water, they received only 1.5 litres of water for 30-40 people, and their diet in the occupied areas of the Donetsk region consisted of a piece of bread and lard. Sometimes, when giving meat, rashists mocked Ukrainians and said it was human,” Denisova wrote.
Thus, russia has violated the rights of prisoners of war guaranteed by the articles of the Geneva Convention.
“I appeal to the UN Commission of Inquiry to take into account these violations of the rights of citizens of Ukraine,” the ombudswoman said.