Since February 24, the mission has confirmed that at least 416 people have been subjected to arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances in Russian-occupied territories.
As of September 9, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine verified and confirmed 14,059 civilian casualties. As a result of the fighting, 5,767 civilians were killed and 8,292 were injured. However, the actual numbers are likely higher. This was announced at a press briefing by the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner.
Since February 24, the mission has confirmed that at least 416 people have been subjected to arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances in territories occupied by the Russian Federation or in territories controlled at the time by the Russian Armed Forces and associated armed groups .
Of these, 16 were found dead, 166 were released. It also recorded 51 arbitrary arrests and another 30 cases, which, as noted in the report, can be qualified as “enforced disappearances committed by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.”
“We have recorded several violations against prisoners of war. We were given unhindered access to places of internment and detention in government-controlled territory. However, the Russian Federation has not granted access to prisoners of war held on its territory or in the territory under its jurisdiction, especially in areas controlled by its armed forces and associated armed groups,” said Matilda Bogner.
According to him, this is even more alarming, as it has been recorded that prisoners of war held captive by the Russian Federation and imprisoned have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment, and in some places of captivity, proper food, access to drinking water , medical care not provided, and lack of sanitary conditions.
The mission received information about the terrible health situation of Ukrainian prisoners of war in a penal colony near Olenevka.
It is reported that many of them suffer from infectious diseases, especially hepatitis A and tuberculosis.
“We also recorded many cases when Ukrainian prisoners of war were not allowed to report their captivity, whereabouts and state of health. Therefore, families of captured soldiers are desperately looking for information, because they are being taken away of the right to know what happened to their loved ones,” said the head of the UN Monitoring Mission.
The UN is also monitoring the cases of several pregnant POWs held in areas controlled by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and associated armed groups:
“We call on the Russian Federation, as a state holding prisoners, to consider the possibility of the immediate release of these women on humanitarian grounds,” the UN stressed.
“In government-controlled territory, we have also documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war, often after capture, during preliminary interrogation or transfer to internment camps. Our mission had the opportunity to visit the Ukrainian POW camp. At the same time, we note that the majority of prisoners of war are still held in penitentiary institutions, which is a violation of the rule that prisoners of war cannot be interned separately,” said Bogner.
Since the start of Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine, 236 children are considered missing.
before The UN mission reported that Russia blocks access to Ukrainian prisoners in Olenevka.
At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmitry Lubinets, expressed claims about the composition of the UN mission, which should investigate the circumstances of the death of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Yelenovskaya colony.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.