Russia has confirmed that it is holding 3 392 Ukrainian citizens captive.
In an interview with the German publication RND, the adviser — the presidentʼs commissioner for the protection of defendersʼ rights Alyona Verbytska told about this.
At the same time, according to her, approximately 15,000 people are currently considered missing in Ukraine, including many civilians. The fate of these people is unknown.
"We donʼt know what happened to them. Are they also Russian prisoners of war, were they forcibly removed from the territories occupied by Russia, or perhaps they were killed long ago. Such uncertainty is especially difficult for relatives," Verbytska noted.
According to her, numerous violations by Russia of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war and international humanitarian law in principle are obvious.
"They deny the International Committee of the Red Cross access to the camps for prisoners of war. If the employees of the organization gain access, then the detainees are immediately transferred to other camps: we know of cases when prisoners were transferred this way four times," the advisor added.