Russia holds over 100 Ukrainian civilians hostage without charges
Russian authorities are holding Ukrainian citizens in penal colonies and pre-trial detention centres without charges. Among them are residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
Source: Olha Skrypnyk, Head of the Board of the Crimean Human Rights Group
Quote: "When we talk about incommunicado (when Russia does not confirm the illegal detention of Ukrainians or holds them without charge; in particular, these are people who were taken from occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts), unfortunately, we cannot name the exact number, but it is definitely more than 100 people," she said.
Details: To date, only 53 people have been verified according to international standards. Skrypnyk added that this list has been handed over to an independent UN commission of inquiry into crimes in Ukraine.
The human rights activist emphasised that it is very difficult to identify the number of people held without charge. Their names do not appear on any court website; they cannot be visited by a lawyer; some of them are constantly being transferred; and some have even been taken to Russia.
Among the detainees is Spanish volunteer Mariano García Calatayud, known as Mario. The occupiers are also holding without charge Oleksandr Babych, the mayor of Hola Prystan, who was abducted by the Russians on 28 March. They are both in the Simferopol pre-trial detention centre.
Russia illegally holds Ukrainian civilians in captivity: what is known
Petro Yatsenko, the head of the press service of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said that Russia has abducted thousands of Ukrainian civilians from Ukraine. They are being illegally held hostage and often passed off as prisoners of war, which makes it extremely difficult to bring them home.
At the same time, the Russians have no legal basis for keeping these people in prison. They are trying to accuse them of obstructing the so-called 'special military operation' [as Russia officially calls the war in Ukraine – ed.].
He also noted that the occupiers often record videos of civilians being released, when in fact they continue to hold them captive.
Yatsenko emphasised that the actions of the Russians are aimed at causing as much suffering as possible to the civilian population of Ukraine and discouraging them from helping the army.
Background: 230 Ukrainians have recently been released from Russian captivity. This was the first exchange to take place since August 2023.
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