There are about 6-7 thousand Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia – Polozov
Human rights defender, lawyer Mykola Polozov claims that according to the data he received from a number of sources, the total number of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia reaches 6-7 thousand people.
– The conditions of detention are completely different. Some of them are held on the territory of Russia, some in the temporarily occupied Crimea and the so-called L/DPR. The Russian authorities hide their whereabouts in every possible way, and in this sense, the search for and provision of legal and palliative assistance to Ukrainian prisoners of war is significantly complicated, – Polozov said on July 10 on the air of a national telethon.
He noted that the Russian Federation does not specifically report where Ukrainian prisoners of war are kept, primarily to avoid publicizing the war crimes committed.
– Because it is obvious that the Russian military violates Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, which ensures the rights of prisoners of war. Russia still has not created a reference bureau, as required by the convention, and, in principle, we understand that the Russian authorities deny the very fact of war, shyly calling what is happening a special military operation, – the lawyer added.
According to him, the information received about the prisoners of war – the same is stated by the Ukrainian soldiers who were exchanged – indicates that they do not receive adequate food and medical care.
Polozov also said that the return of such a number of prisoners of war is actually a huge task, since there has never been such a number since the Second World War.
Photo: Lyudmyla Denisova
