As of today, the verified death toll of Ukrainian citizens in russian captivity stands at 375 – that is exactly how many bodies have been returned to their homeland. This was stated by Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, during a press conference at Ukrinform.
“We have a separate list; as of today, it contains 375 names. These are Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian hostages who have been verified as prisoners of war or civilians detained by the russian Federation. They were verified, among other means, through an international verification instrument – the International Committee of the Red Cross. And all of them have returned home on their shields, meaning the russian Federation handed over the bodies of 375 tortured Ukrainian citizens to us,” Lubinets said.He emphasized that russia has created a system where torture, humiliation, and unlawful sentences have become tools of war. “We call this system the ‘moscow Conventions.’ This is not a legal term; it is a definition of russian practice in treating Ukrainians: under these ‘conventions,’ instead of protection – torture, instead of providing medical care – suffering, instead of justice – show trials, instead of returning home – years of captivity or death,” the ombudsman noted.
He stressed that practically all methods of torture outlined in the Istanbul Protocol are applied to Ukrainian prisoners of war in russia.
“Through the efforts of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, together with our institution, we have documented 695 forms of torture applied to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian hostages, and 860 instances of inadequate detention conditions. 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war have suffered torture, systematic torture in russian prisons,” Lubinets emphasized.
According to him, these include, among other things, beatings, electric shock, sexual violence, psychological violence, dog attacks, and mock executions.
