- They have suffered mistreatment by the invaders and some of them were forced to have sexual relations.
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| Ukrainian soldiers, in Kharkiv. |
The liberated Ukrainian soldiers who had been captured by the Russians have denounced that they suffered torture and ill-treatment by the invaders and, some of them, were forced to have sexual relations, denounced the ombudsman of Ukraine, Liudmyla Denisova.
According to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, torture methods were used with particular cruelty against officers of the Armed Forces and fighters of the Azov regiment, the last to resist the siege of the coastal city of Mariupol.
"During an inspection visit to one of the health institutions where the Ukrainian military released from captivity are held, they reported being victims of torture and ill-treatment by the occupants," Denisova added.
They remained in basements and outbuildings in the area and were later transferred to a preventive detention center.
Most of the Ukrainian military personnel were taken prisoner by the Russians in and around Mariupol, where the Russian siege and blockade lasted for almost three months.
Apparently, the detainees remained in basements and outbuildings in the area and were later transferred to a pre-trial detention center in the Donetsk region, to which Mariupol belongs, in Russian-occupied territory.
Subsequently, some members of the Ukrainian army were transferred to pre-trial detention centers in Taganrog and Voronezh, on Russian territory. There, they were blindfolded with adhesive tape, they put a bag over their heads, and tied their hands with ropes, says the ombudsman.
"With particular cruelty, torture was applied to officers of the Armed Forces and fighters of the Azov special forces detachment," he said.
They were brought to their knees, hit with the butt of a machine gun on the toes, and sustained injuries.
And during the interrogations, the Ukrainian POWs were brought to their knees, hit with the butt of a machine gun on the toes, and suffered open wounds.
They also used tongs and ropes to try to strangle them. In addition, they were tortured with electric currents, beaten with hammers, and kicked, Denisova said.
"The Russian occupiers injected the prisoners with unknown drugs, after which they lost consciousness and memory," he said.
Human rights violations
Prisoners held at the Donetsk pretrial detention center said there were at least 17 to 20 of them in cells designed for 2 or 3 people and without a bathroom.
In addition, the detainees were forced to have sexual intercourse and were not provided with medical assistance, and were only examined before being transferred to the prisoner-of-war camp in Sevastopol, Crimea, where Red Cross representatives treated them.
"I call on the UN Commission to investigate human rights violations during the Russian military invasion of Ukraine to take into account these facts of Russian violations of the rights of Ukrainian citizens," the ombudsman denounced...