Amnesty International published a report on Tuesday exposing Russia’s mistreatment of both Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian captives currently held in detention within Ukraine and Russia. The report determined that Russia’s treatment of detained Ukrainians amounted to war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity.
Amnesty researchers interviewed 104 people living in Ukraine between the months of January and November 2024. The report documented that Russian authorities failed to notify the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) of the POWs’ and civilian captives’ statuses and whereabouts, and also noted that Russian Armed Forces denied detainees contact with their families. Of the 43 relatives of POWs interviewed, 56% stated that they had not received any communication from family members. According to the report, Russian authorities had denied the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) access to detention centers where Russian forces were holding POWs. The report determined that these acts constituted incommunicado detention, amounting to “inhuman treatment.”
Ukraine’s Human Rights Ombudsman also informed Amnesty that Russian forces had executed 177 POWs, of which 109 had been carried out in 2024. An HRMMU report issued similar findings last month, noting a recent spike in executions. Previous POWs and civilian detainees told Amnesty that Russian authorities had subjected them to torture and had denied them medical treatment. These accounts were further corroborated by HRMMU which reported that “97% of former POWs interviewed [by HRMMU] were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment”. The report stated that Russia’s acts amounted to “war crimes.”
Article 13 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949 orders captors to treat POWs humanely and with regard for their safety and health. In that same vein, Article 71 provides that POWs have the right to send and receive letters. Similarly, the ICRC states that detaining authorities may only intern “protected civilians” for absolutely necessary security reasons. The organization also emphasizes that detaining authorities may not use internment as a punishment.
Article I(a) of Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, to which Russia is a party, establishes that “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions constitute war crimes. Article I(b) identifies “eviction by armed attack or occupation and inhuman acts resulting from the policy of apartheid” of the civilian population as crimes against humanity.