The Wall Street Journal reports that Russian prison officials instructed guards to “be cruel” and not show pity to Ukrainian prisoners of war starting in March 2022.
Russia has engaged in the torture of Ukrainian POWs since 2014. Torture methods include beatings, electric shocks, and sexual violence, often coordinated by FSB operatives in detention facilities. According to Prosecutor General Kostin, over 3,800 civilian captives and 2,200 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been officially documented as victims of torture and inhumane treatment. However, Kostin states that the actual scale of torture may far exceed these figures.
The torture of POWs violates international law, including Geneva Convention III, customary international law, and the Rome Statute of the ICC, all of which prohibit torture, cruel treatment, and outrages upon personal dignity.
The recent investigation by the WSJ confirmed Russia created a dedicated system to torture Ukrainian prisoners of war, removing normal restrictions and rotating guards monthly to avoid identification.
Three former Russian prison officials told the WSJ that Maj. Gen. Igor Potapenko gathered special forces at St. Petersburg’s regional headquarters to outline a new system for captured Ukrainians. The officials have since entered witness protection and provided testimony to the International Criminal Court.
“Normal rules wouldn’t apply,” Potapenko told the guards, according to the WSJ. Guards would rotate monthly through different prisons, and body cameras would be removed.
The former officials detailed systematic torture methods. Guards applied electric shocks to prisoners’ genitals until batteries died. They experimented with different materials to maximize pain during beatings. Medical treatment was withheld to allow infections to spread.
“They loved it, you could hear them laughing between themselves while we cried out in pain,” former prisoner Andriy Yehorov, 25, told the WSJ about his experience in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast prison.
Pavlo Afisov, 25, spent 30 months in Russian prisons. He described being shocked repeatedly with a stun gun while guards shaved his head. Guards ordered him to yell “glory to Russia” while naked.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the WSJ that broad claims about prison conditions are unfounded. “You have to look at individual cases,” he said.
One former prison medical worker told the WSJ that guards beat prisoners until their batons broke. They tested other materials, including pipes, for maximum pain. At least one prisoner died from sepsis after repeated beatings prevented wounds from healing.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for several Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, over other alleged war crimes. The court declined to comment on ongoing investigations.
The UN report, spanning three months from September through November 2024, documented sixty-eight confirmed executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces, widespread torture in detention, and 170 civilian executions in occupied territories.
Read also:
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