Ukrainian POWs Held In ‘Torture Chambers’ And Concentration Camps: Ombudsman

Ukrainians who have been captured by Russian troops amid the war are reportedly being held in “torture chambers” and concentration camps under the supervision of the notorious FSB.

Ukraine’s Human Rights Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova on Tuesday said Ukrainian prisoners of war are being sent to concentration camps in southern Russia. Other Ukrainian soldiers are being sent to the Vyazemsky Concentration Camp of SIZO-2 of the UFSIN in the Smolensk Region, a facility that is equipped for the interrogation and torture of prisoners of war.

“Prisoners of war of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are held in the colonies of the GUFSIN of Russia in the Rostov region. For this purpose, two penitentiaries in the south of Russia were resettled at once - now they are in fact concentration camps for prisoners of war and are being filled at the expense of Ukrainian soldiers captured on the battlefield,” Denisova wrote.

The human rights ombudsman said the placement of the prisoners of war violated laws set in Articles 22 and 97 of the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Under Article 22, prisoners of war should be interned in a place where they are guaranteed hygiene and healthfulness. Additionally, they should be separated from other prisoners of war belonging to the same armed forces they were serving at the time of their capture.

Under Article 97, prisoners of war are not to be transferred to facilities where they are to undergo disciplinary punishment. All facilities where disciplinary punishments are carried out should also conform to sanitary requirements.

The human rights ombudsman said the prisons were being overseen by the Rosguard, FSVP and FSB. The latter is notorious for torturing victims.

In October 2021, prominent Russian human rights defender and founder of Gulagu.net Vladimir Osechkin said his team obtained a large batch of videos that showed FSB and FSIN members raping and torturing inmates in an attempt to force them to cooperate with them and snitch on other inmates. Osechkin said that while over 200 inmates were raped and tortured, only 40 of them were tortured on videos. Overall, the group received 40 gigabytes of videos.