Russia detains more than 100 Ukrainian civilians who have not been charged – human rights defender
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Russia is holding more than 100 Ukrainian civilians without charge. Among them are residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
This was stated by the head of the board of the Crimean human rights group Olga Skrypnyk.
“When we talk about incommunicado (when Russia does not confirm the illegal detention of Ukrainians or holds them without charge, in particular, these are people who were taken out of the occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions), the exact number, unfortunately, cannot be named, but it is definitely more than 100 persons“, she says.
To date, only 53 people have been verified by international standards. This list was handed over to the UN independent commission for investigating crimes in Ukraine, adds Skrypnyk.
| PHOTO: watman/Depositphotos |
The human rights activist emphasizes: it is very difficult to find out the number of people who are detained without charge. Their names do not appear on any court website, a lawyer cannot come to them, some of them are constantly transported, and some were even taken to Russia.
Among those detained is Spanish volunteer Mariano García Calatayuda, known as Mario. Also, the occupiers are holding without charge Oleksandr Babich, the mayor of Hola Prystan, whom the invaders kidnapped on March 28. They are both in the Simferopol pre-trial detention center, Skrypnyk reminded.
Russia is illegally holding Ukrainian civilians captive: what is known
According to Petro Yatsenko, head of the press service of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Russia kidnapped thousands of Ukrainian civilians from Ukraine. They are held illegally as hostages and are often passed off as prisoners of war, so it is extremely difficult to return such people.
At the same time, the Russians have no legal basis for keeping these people in prisons. They are trying to be accused of obstructing the so-called “special military operation”.
He also noted that the occupiers often record videos of allegedly releasing civilians, although in reality these people continue to be held captive.
Yatsenko emphasizes that the Russians’ actions are aimed at inflicting as much suffering as possible on the civilian population of Ukraine and discouraging them from helping their army.
It will be recalled that 230 Ukrainians recently returned from Russian captivity. This was the first exchange to be completed since August 2023.
Read also: The largest recorded weight loss of a Ukrainian in Russian captivity was 77 kilograms
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