UN Documents Widespread Torture of Ukrainian PoWs in Russian Captivity

Since February 2022, the UN human rights office has documented 129 executions of Ukrainian PoWs. (File Photo)

More than 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war interviewed by UN monitors reported being tortured or otherwise ill-treated in Russian captivity, a senior UN human rights official said Monday, as Russia rejected the allegations and accused Ukraine of abusing Russian captives. Since February 2022, the UN human rights office has documented 129 executions of Ukrainian PoWs at the start of captivity and 48 deaths in detention attributed to torture, denial of medical care or other inhumane conditions, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Claudia Fuentes Julio said. More than half of the Ukrainian PoWs interviewed also reported sexual violence, including rape, beatings while naked and electric shocks to the genitals. Fuentes Julio said monitors had received accounts of severe beatings with batons, heavy belts and wooden objects, as well as electric shocks, dog attacks and mock executions.

Former PoWs recount abuse

Former captives and Ukrainian officials described their experiences at an informal UN Security Council meeting, according to Reuters. Juan Alberto Leyva Garcia, who remains in the Ukrainian military, said he spent 1,183 days in Russian captivity, where he faced daily beatings, electric shocks, excessive exercise in sub-zero temperatures and sexual abuse. He said two friends died after being beaten at detention centres in the Donetsk region. Garsiya also described overcrowded barracks, saying dysentery affected almost every PoW and many prisoners were starving. Crimean Tatar activist Leniie Umerova, who was freed in a 2024 prisoner exchange, said she was detained while trying to reach Crimea to visit her seriously ill father. She said she was transferred between seven detention facilities and accused Russian authorities of torturing Ukrainians in custody. Oleg Gushin of Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Kyiv had identified more than 300 detention sites in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. More than 9,000 Ukrainians had returned through prisoner exchanges, while thousands remained in Russian captivity, he said.

Russia rejects allegations

Russia's deputy UN representative Maria Zabolotskaya rejected the allegations as “a disinformation campaign” and accused Ukraine of subjecting Russian prisoners to torture, degradation and physical and moral abuse. UN monitors have also documented torture and ill-treatment of Russian and third-country PoWs held by Ukraine. About half of those interviewed reported abuse during the early stages of captivity, Fuentes Julio said, while adding that the scale differed fundamentally from the treatment documented among Ukrainian prisoners. Ukraine's charge d'affaires Volodymyr Pavlichenko urged countries to increase pressure on Russia and pursue accountability over the treatment of prisoners.