Russian Forces Routinely Torture and Abuse Ukrainian Prisoners of War, UN Report Finds

Russian Forces are systematically subjecting Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) to torture and cruel treatment at every stage of their detention, shows a report, published by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on October 1.

The report details widespread mistreatment of Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces. Of the 174 interviewed POWs, 169 provided testimonies of abuse during interrogations, upon their arrival at detention centers, and during their daily confinement. These accounts were corroborated by other sources, the report confirmed.

The torture methods described include beatings, electric shocks, rape, suffocation, forced stress positions, extreme physical exertion, sleep deprivation, mock executions, and other threats.

“In Kherson, occupation authorities repeatedly subjected detained men in September 2022 to beatings, suffocation, water torture, electric shocks—including to the genitals—and threats of castration. In one case, a man was raped with a metal object while being simultaneously electrocuted,” the report stated.

The UN also noted that, in many documented cases, employees from various Russian state agencies participated in the abuse, indicating significant coordination between them.

Additionally, the report highlighted that prison guards were aware of the mistreatment and could have intervened to stop it.

The report also pointed on public statements by Russian officials encouraging the mistreatment and execution of Ukrainian POWs.

Earlier, Russian Forces executed 16 Ukrainian POWs in Pokrovsk.