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Olena Kondratiuk, deputy chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada, said Russia is systematically torturing Ukrainian prisoners of war and deliberately denying them medical care, calling the practice a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime, UATV English reports.
Speaking during the presentation of the study “Violations of Prisoners of War Rights to Healthcare and Medical Treatment: Consequences, Qualification and Prospects,” Kondratiuk stated that around 7,000 Ukrainian POWs are currently being held in Russian captivity.
According to her, between 10,000 and 20,000 Ukrainian civilians are also believed to be detained by Russia.
“More than 95% of Ukrainian POWs are subjected to torture and cruel treatment in Russian captivity,” Kondratiuk said.
She noted that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has managed to return more than 9,000 citizens from Russian captivity, including over 400 civilians.
Kondratiuk said many prisoners returned in extremely serious condition, often with visible signs of torture, untreated wounds, and irreversible health damage caused by the absence of proper medical care.
“This is part of the aggressor state’s deliberate policy,” she stressed.
The lawmaker also referenced the recent return of 375 bodies to Ukraine that reportedly showed signs of torture and medical neglect.
“Wounds left to rot. Amputations performed without pain relief. Teeth pulled out without anesthesia by intoxicated personnel. Tourniquets removed from wounded prisoners after the Olenivka terrorist attack,” she said. “The deliberate denial of medical care is a separate weapon used by Russia.”
According to Kondratiuk, such actions qualify as grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and war crimes under Article 8 of the International Criminal Court Rome Statute.
She argued that the broader pattern of deportations of Ukrainian children, crimes against civilians, torture, and killings of prisoners demonstrates what she described as “hallmarks of a genocidal policy against the Ukrainian people.”
“Our task is to build a proper body of evidence so that all those responsible are brought to justice,” Kondratiuk said.
She added that the study presented during the event is the first systematic attempt to document the medical dimension of Russian abuses against Ukrainian POWs and could become an important evidentiary basis for future international prosecutions.
Earlier, Ukrainian officials also stated that Russia has failed to establish a single official prisoner-of-war camp during the full-scale war, which they say constitutes another serious violation of the Geneva Conventions.
