Nearly 700 methods of torture are used against Ukrainian civilian captives and prisoners of war in Russian prisons – Ombudsman’s Office

Ukraine’s Ombudsman’s Office has documented 695 methods of abuse allegedly used by the Russian side against Ukrainian prisoners. These include physical abuse, beatings, psychological pressure and sexual violence. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, announced the findings during the presentation of the project “Made in Russia. Delivered to Captivity”.

Denys Bulavin / hromadske

According to Lubinets, prisoners are strangled, set upon by dogs, tortured with electroshock devices and forced to stand motionless for up to 18 hours, with beatings used as punishment if they attempt to sit down.

“One of the forms of torture is what they call the ‘barbershop’. During shaving, the Russians cut away not only hair but also pieces of skin from the scalp. If a person starts screaming, they are beaten or subjected to electric shocks,” Lubinets said.

The ombudsman criticised what he described as the international community’s lack of response, noting that representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had ignored an invitation to attend the event.

“They do not want to hear once again that the problem lies in the fulfilment of their mandate,” Ukraine’s Ombudsman stated.

He explained that due to the “ineffectiveness of ICRC mediation efforts”, Lubinets said he had been forced to establish direct communication with Tatyana Moskalkova, who served as Russia’s human rights commissioner until March.

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According to statistics from the Ombudsman’s Office, Russian courts have illegally convicted 2,112 Ukrainian prisoners of war, handing down prison sentences of up to 20 and 30 years. Among those convicted are around 250 fighters from the Azov Regiment.

Andrii Pasternak, head of the SSU’s Joint Centre, said such trials complicate repatriation efforts because Russian officials use the sentences to “raise the price” during prisoner-exchange negotiations.

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Previously, during repatriation operations, Russia returned to Ukraine the bodies of 375 citizens who had died in captivity. The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed the status of 146 of them, while the captivity of another 229 was established through testimony from released fellow service members. Signs of torture, severe emaciation and a lack of proper medical care were documented on the bodies.