Up to 90% of Ukrainian POWs suffered torture, Attorney General says

Attorney General Andriy Kostin highlighted in a media workshop on international law in armed conflicts and Russia's accountability for international crimes that up to 90% of returning military prisoners suffered physical and psychological torture.

Torture of the military and civilans with a pro-Ukrainian stance is a widespread practice of Russian army. He emphasized, "The system created by Russia is a system of torture and inhuman treatment towards those who fall into their hands - on occupied territories or within Russian territory."

"The first so-called screening – an informal conversation with returning military prisoners – indicates that up to 90% of our people endure various forms of torture, inhuman treatment, physical, including sexual, and mental violence," shared the Prosecutor General.

Brenda Hollis, head of the International Criminal Court (ICC) team in Ukraine, discussing approaches to investigating torture in places of detention, underscored, "It's not so much about the quantity, we… talk about trends, that a certain category is subjected to torture, that there are certain types of torture. We need all this information to obtain the necessary evidence, testimony. We are not considering individual cases, we are looking at the bigger picture, which represents the crimes."

She added that the ICC team is examining the actions of perpetrators of such crimes at the middle and higher levels, "who are subordinate to specific criminals."

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