Torture, humiliation, death threats: Freed Ukraine soldiers report on Russia's methods
Created: 08/29/2022, 05:12
By: Astrid Theil
The photo provided by the press office of the Azov regiment of the Ukrainian national guard via AP shows a wounded Ukrainian soldier sitting at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in May, showing the peace sign.
(Archive) © Dmytro 'orest' Kozatskyi/dpa
Three Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov regiment managed to escape from Russian captivity.
They report torture, humiliation and death threats.
Kyiv - Three soldiers of the Ukrainian Azov regiment, who came back to Kyiv as part of a prisoner exchange, reported at a press conference about their experiences in Russian captivity.
They speak of torture, failure to provide assistance and death threats.
The Agence France-Presse
news agency
reported on the press conference;
ntv
broadcast excerpts from this.
One of the soldiers tells of beatings and humiliation: “Our bodies were examined outside, so we had to strip naked in the heat.
Then they forced us to squat.
If someone raised their head, they hit.
I was beaten during interrogations,” reports Denys Chepurko.
Torture in POWs: "Some had needles stuck in their wounds"
During the Ukraine war, fighters from the Azov regiment had held out for weeks at the steelworks in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, fiercely resisting the Russian siege of the city.
In May they were forced to surrender during the final conquest of the city by Russian troops.
Some of them have been captured by Russia.
Most of them were seriously injured at the time.
Vladyslav Zhaivoronok reports on the lack of care for the war wounded and the torture of Russian prisoners in the Ukraine war: "I was interrogated before I received medication after my amputation.
It's hard to call that treatment." Many were tortured by Russian soldiers.
“Some had needles stuck into their wounds, others tortured with water.
Almost nobody got the right treatment,” reports Vladyslav Zhaivoronok.
The allegations cannot be verified independently.
Statements under torture: "They threatened us with murder and execution"
Russia is also said to have used torture methods to get soldiers to tell untruths.
"They wanted us to testify against our leadership and confess to bombing the city.
They wanted to blame us," said soldier Denys Chepurko at the press conference.
The third of the released soldiers, Dmytro Usychenko, confirms this statement: “They threatened us with murder and execution.
We should say we killed peaceful people when that's not true."
The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope
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In Mariupol, which is still occupied and hard-fought for a long time, preparations are said to be underway for a trial against the fighters of the Azov regiment, who are still in Russian captivity.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had announced that he would end all talks between Kyiv and Russia should such a process actually take place.
Azov Regiment: A former volunteer battalion
The Azov regiment is a former volunteer battalion controversial for its links to far-right extremists and labeled a "neo-Nazi" group by Russia.
In 2014, the combat group was formally integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard.
At that time, Azov members took part in the fight against Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
(at/afp)
