Investigative Committee hears the accounts of servicemen who have recently been repatriated after captivity
Russian servicemen have reported the brutal torture they endured while being held captive by Kiev’s forces. The country’s Investigative Committee announced on Wednesday that it will be launching a criminal investigation into the alleged abuses.
According to testimony published on the service’s official Telegram channel, Russian soldiers were subjected to merciless interrogations. One of the fighters said he was taken prisoner when he was already wounded and had a bone in his right hand broken by a bullet. He claims that the Ukrainian interrogators beat him with a shovel and with rebar, shot both of his feet with a pistol, broke his jaw and several ribs, and punctured his lungs.
Another soldier says his interrogation began with a knife stab to the leg, which caused severe bleeding that no one bothered to stop. If his captors didn’t like his answers, they beat him with thumps and kicks, and then with a helmet or the with butt of a rifle. After the interrogation ended, the soldier claims he was thrown to the ground, where he was held by three men as a fourth cut off a finger on his hand.
He also claims that he was forced to sign an agreement to cooperate with Ukrainian special services, under a threat of murder and harm to his loved ones.
The Investigative Committee has also stated that “the testimonies of Russian military personnel indicate that representatives of Ukraine are grossly violating the requirements of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which prohibit ill-treatment, torture and abuse.”
Investigators say they will continue to work with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service and Russia’s Defense Ministry to identify the Ukrainian nationalists responsible for the murder and torture of civilians and of captured Russian servicemen. The committee has vowed to record all evidence of brutal crimes committed by Kiev’s forces.
Оn Tuesday Moscow and Kiev conducted their latest prisoner exchange in the format of 60-60, where both sides released 60 captive soldiers who were considered to be in “mortal danger.” The released Russian servicemen have since been transported to Moscow to undergo treatment and rehabilitation, and to receive psychological and medical assistance.
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com
