Russians are forcing Ukrainians detained in the occupied territories to dig trenches and graves, torturing them and deporting them to Russia for an indefinite period of time, in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

Quote: "Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are being detained across Russia and the Ukrainian territories it occupies, in centres ranging from brand-new wings in Russian prisons to clammy basements. Most have no status under Russian law."

Details: AP spoke to dozens of people, including former detainees, prisoners of war, and their relatives. Their stories, as well as satellite imagery, social media, government documents and copies of letters provided by the Red Cross, confirm a widespread Russian system of detention and ill-treatment of civilians in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions.

In particular, in one case, Ukrainian civilians were reportedly woken up long before dawn in the bitter cold, lined up for a single toilet and loaded into a cattle trailer at gunpoint. They spent the next 12 hours or more digging trenches for Russian soldiers on the front line.

Many were forced by the occupiers to wear large Russian military uniforms, which could make them a target. By the end of the day, their hands were curled into icy claws.

In the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukrainian civilians dug mass graves in the frozen ground for their fellow prisoners who did not survive. A man who refused to dig was shot dead on the spot.

According to the AP, Russia plans to detain possibly thousands more Ukrainians. A document from the Russian government dating January obtained by the agency outlines plans to create 25 new penal colonies and 6 other detention centres in occupied Ukraine by 2026.

In addition, in May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that allows Russia to send people from territories under martial law, which includes all of occupied Ukraine, to places without it, such as Russia.

This facilitates the deportation of Ukrainians who resist the Russian occupation to indefinite detention deep into Russia, which has happened in many cases.

Many civilians are detained by the Russians for allegedly minor offences, such as speaking Ukrainian or simply being in the occupied oblast, and often held without charge.

Others are accused of being terrorists, combatants or people who "resist the special military operation".

Hundreds of people are used by the Russian military for slave labour, digging trenches and other fortifications, and mass graves.

Torture is also a routine practice, including repeated electric shocks, beatings that crack skulls and break ribs, and simulated suffocation.

Many former prisoners told AP they had witnessed deaths. A UN report published in late June documented 77 summary executions of civilians, as well as the death of one person due to torture.

"Russia does not acknowledge holding civilians at all, let alone its reasons for doing so. But the prisoners serve as future bargaining chips in exchanges for Russian soldiers, and the U.N. has said there is evidence of civilians being used as human shields near the front lines," AP writes.

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