Released from captivity, Ukrainian servicemen return in a terrible state due to torture and need mental help.
The russian occupiers threatened to cut off the hands and fingers of the captured Ukrainian servicemen.
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Lyudmyla Denisova told about this in an interview with Onet.
She noted that more than 100 Ukrainian servicemen have already been released from captivity.
“They come to us just in a terrible state”, – Denisova added.
The ombudsman said that some of the fighters were taken prisoner in Mariupol and tortured by Kadyrovites.
“They put bags on their heads, taped their eyes, tied their hands to the table and turned on the chainsaw. And people didn’t know which finger or hand was going to be cut off now. They just heard that horrible sound”, – she wrote.
According to the ombudsman, the prisoners were then taken to the occupied territory of Donetsk region, where the wounded were kept without water, food and medicine. She added that two people were in a very serious condition, but they were not even given painkillers.
“Then these prisoners were taken to Rostov, Kursk, Taganrog, Bryansk. They were interrogated for a month by FSB investigators. 30 people were given 1.5 liters of water a day. They were constantly humiliated. They were not taken to the toilet”, – Denisova said.
According to her, people need mental help, have many disorders, and after treatment they undergo treatment.
Denisova also recalled the exchange of prisoners, including the defenders of Snake Island. She noted that the racists took the captives’ boots, filled them with water and forced them to put on their shoes again. The soldiers lay in the cold for three or four days, freezing their limbs. The ombudsman added that these blindfolded servicemen were then taken to russian camps, where they were interrogated 3-4 times a day and severely beaten.
In addition, Denisova recalled that the russian occupiers had humiliated female servicemen who had been taken prisoner.
“They were cut and completely stripped naked in the presence of men. In the language of the aggressor, this is called “lowering”, – she said.
The Ombudsman reiterated that by violating Ukrainian prisoners in such humiliation, russia was violating the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
On May 2, the Ministry of Reintegration reported that as a result of nine exchanges of prisoners and hostages from russia, 320 Ukrainian citizens were returned, 59 of whom were civilians.
On May 6, Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, said that 41 more Ukrainians had been returned from captivity: 28 military and 13 civilians.
