Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia have suffered torture and ill-treatment
The UN says it has documented “torture and ill-treatment” of prisoners of war held by Russian forces in Ukraine. The findings were laid out on September 9, 2022, in a briefing from Odesa by Matilda Bogner, the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
“We have documented that prisoners of war in the power of the Russian Federation and held by the Russian Federation’s armed forces or by affiliated armed groups have suffered torture and ill-treatment,” she said.
Bogner said that in some places detainees had been deprived of adequate food, water, healthcare, and sanitation, and referred to one penal colony in Olenivka, a Russian-held town in southern Ukraine, where prisoners of war had reportedly been “suffering from infectious diseases, including hepatitis A and tuberculosis.”
She added that her team had been granted “unimpeded access” to places of internment controlled by the Ukrainian government, whereas Russia “has not provided access to prisoners of war held on its territory or in territory under its occupation.”
