Russian soldiers torture Ukrainian prisoners by beating them and firing off shots next to their ears

Alyona Mazurenko – Monday, 4 April 2022, 19:28

Ukrainian prisoners of war freed from captivity spoke about being tortured by Russian soldiers.

Source: Lyudmyla Denisova, ombudswoman, on Facebook

According to Denisova: "Ukrainian military personnel spoke about inhumane treatment from the Russian side: they were held in a field, in a hole in the ground, in a garage. Every so often, one of them would be taken out and beaten with rifle butts, threatened, had guns fired right by their ears.

Guys from the Zmiyinyi island who had been sent to Sevastopol on a tugboat have been used by the local reporters for their propaganda purposes, in a story about the Russian government’s humane treatment of prisoners, who had been brought home.

Instead, the prisoners of war were taken in an unknown direction and housed in tents in -20ºC weather; as a result, many of the guys have frostbite.

They were treated as prisoners, morally oppressed; a dog was unleashed on them when they were allowed outside in the courtyard."

Details: Denisova emphasised that these actions by the Russian Federation are a violation of Article 13 of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Additionally – in violation of Article 26 of the Geneva Convention – Ukrainian prisoners of war were sometimes starved of food for several days.