Russia holds thousands of Ukrainian civilians in prisons throughout the Russian Federation and in the occupied territories

Russia plans to create 25 new colonies and six other detention centers on the occupied territory of Ukraine by 2026.

Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are held in a network of official and unofficial prisons throughout Russia and its occupied territories, where they are subjected to torture, psychological abuse, and even slave labor. This was reported by the Associated Press in an investigation published on July 13.

The Associated Press spoke with dozens of people, including 20 former detainees and former prisoners of war, the families of more than a dozen detained civilians, two Ukrainian intelligence officers and a government negotiator.

Their testimony, as well as satellite images, social media, government documents and copies of letters provided by the Red Cross, confirm the existence of a large-scale Russian system of detention and abuse of civilians in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions.

The journalists came to the conclusion that the number of Ukrainian civilians in Russian prisons is now in the thousands, and many have not been charged. According to Russian human rights defender Volodymyr Osechkin, Russia holds at least 4,000 civilians, and the same number are scattered across the occupied territories. The Ukrainian government believes that approximately 10,000 civilians may be detained.

The agency also found out that there are currently at least 63 prisons and their analogues in the occupied territories – from new prison buildings to basements – where Ukrainian citizens are kept. Ukrainians are also held in 40 prisons on the territory of the Russian Federation and Belarus. Even more, a January Russian government document obtained by the Associated Press outlines plans to create 25 new colonies and six other detention centers in occupied Ukraine by 2026.

Journalists emphasize that brutal treatment of detained Ukrainians is a common phenomenon. It is about electric torture, beatings, as well as imitation of suffocation. Every former prisoner interviewed by The Associated Press said torture was a constant occurrence, and many said they had witnessed death. In a June UN report, 91% of detainees “described torture and ill-treatment.”

As the agency notes, many civilians were detained for alleged minor offenses, such as speaking Ukrainian, or simply for being young men in the occupied region. Russia uses hundreds of Ukrainians to dig trenches for Russian soldiers and mass graves.

The Associated Press also published a map of prisons based on data obtained from former prisoners, the Ukrainian Media Initiative for Human Rights, and the Russian human rights group. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented 864 cases of arbitrary detention of Ukrainian citizens committed by Russian forces since February 24, 2022. until May 23, 2023. In particular, it concerns the detention of 763 men, 94 women and seven boys.

On July 7, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated that approximately 25,000 civilian hostages from Ukraine are currently in Russian captivity.