At a pretrial detention facility in Ukraine, the second ground is reserved for Russian prisoners of wars. DW is just not naming the precise location of the constructing for safety causes.
The Russians are held individually from the opposite prisoners. We’re advised it’s “for their very own safety.”
Following a request by journalists to the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, DW turned the primary media outlet to talk with Russian prisoners as effectively movie within the jail.
Permission was granted on the situation that DW wouldn’t report the precise whereabouts of the prisoners or present their faces.
We have been additionally solely allowed to speak to prisoners who weren’t charged with conflict crimes and who confronted no different legal prices: Interviewing such people would require extra authorization from the investigators or prosecutor.
‘It was solely right here that I noticed what was truly happening’
Seven males of various ages are sitting in one of many cells. They aren’t stunned by the go to of journalists. They are saying representatives of the United Nations or the Purple Cross come by each week.
In the course of the interviews, DW journalists have been accompanied by jail employees who allowed them to decide on the lads they needed to interview.
DW interviewed 4 prisoners after they gave their consent; they have been all skilled troopers and had nothing to cover, they mentioned.
“Actually, we have been deceived,” Roman, who’s from Vyborg in Russia, inform us. “To start with, we have been advised it was about humanitarian issues. However I used to be instantly despatched to the entrance strains.” Roman was injured throughout preventing within the Kharkiv area. The Ukrainian army, he says, took him alongside and supplied medical care.
DW was approved to movie within the jail on the condtion that the faces of the Russian detainees weren’t proven
Alternatively, Artyom, one other prisoner, says he made a aware resolution to participate within the “particular army operation” in opposition to Ukraine. (Editor’s notice: That is the official Kremlin time period for Russia’s conflict in opposition to Ukraine.)
He responded to a web based commercial he got here throughout and was despatched to Donetsk, which is managed by pro-Russian separatists. There he realized to drive a T-72 tank in only a few days. Then, he says, he was despatched within the route of Zaporizhzhya, however his battle tank was destroyed and he himself was captured by the Ukrainian Azov regiment. The Russian prisoner says he was given meals and cigarettes, including: “I did not see any fascists.”
Requested why he went to Ukraine, Artyom says: “On tv they inform us that we’re supposedly preventing for a superb trigger however in actuality that isn’t the case in any respect. It was solely right here that I noticed that.”
Artyom calls the Russian military “looters and murderers” when talking with DW.
What’s on a regular basis life like for Russian prisoners of conflict?
The cells are furnished with previous furnishings. It is cramped however clear. There is a widespread desk for all, with plastic dishes, spoons and forks for every prisoner. The cutlery is manufactured from metallic.
Based on the guards, plastic cutlery is generally utilized in jail for security causes. However with the prisoners of conflict, they are saying, issues are simpler. They aren’t aggressive and are normally simply ready for a prisoner alternate.
Lunch is distributed to the Russians by a Ukrainian prisoner underneath the supervision of a guard. Borscht, a soup made with beetroot, and a porridge of buckwheat are handed by means of a hatch within the doorways of every cell.
A Ukrainian prisoner serves lunch to Russian detainees although a hatch within the door of their jail cell
For breakfast, there was corn porridge with meat, the prisoners say. Based on the meal plan posted within the hallway, meals is served thrice a day. As well as, the prisoners of conflict are allowed to go for walks and bathe each day.
‘Get out of right here! You haven’t any enterprise being right here!’
In one other cell, there are three younger males of their 20s. On the desk subsequent to their beds is a stack of books. The prisoners say they wish to learn detective tales and novels.
Considered one of them is Dmitry. He says he did not know his unit was going to Ukraine from Belgorod in Russia on Feb. 24. “We weren’t advised the place we have been going. Solely once we have been already on Ukrainian territory and noticed the indicators and flags did we understand the place we have been,” he says. “I requested the commander what we have been doing right here and the reply I obtained is that I shouldn’t ask pointless questions,” Dmitry remembers.
When his tank was fired upon close to Pryluky within the Chernihiv area on February 27, he surrendered to the Ukrainians.
Throughout interviews with he and two different POWs, a guard, a psychologist from the pre-trial detention heart, and different prisoners have been current. The DW journalists personally had the impression that the presence of detention facility employees had no affect on the prisoners’ narratives or their willingness to talk.
The each day routine of the prisoners of conflict is similar as for different prisoners
The guards didn’t take heed to the dialog. They saved their distance and didn’t put stress on the DW journalists.
DW spoke with prisoner Oleg from Karelia in personal in a separate room. He renewed his contract with the Russian forces in March, he says. “I believed the information on tv that we have been going to journey to Ukraine to assist, that there have been nationalists right here who would kill and torture their very own folks,” he says.
However, when he arrived within the Kharkiv area, he says, he did not see a single nationalist. “After we got here to the villages, folks advised us bluntly: ‘Get out! You haven’t any enterprise being right here!'”
When he signed his contract, Oleg says, he was promised coaching and that he wouldn’t be deployed on the entrance strains. However after simply three days, he was ordered to encircle Kharkiv, a metropolis of over one million folks. His unit tried to return to Russia, however the commander forbade it. They then misplaced contact with the commander and his unit was captured by the Ukrainian military quickly after.
Can the prisoners of conflict be trusted?
All of the prisoners DW was capable of converse with guarantee us that they remorse their participation within the invasion of Ukraine and that they didn’t shoot at peaceable civilians in villages and cities. Ukrainian investigators have to date additionally failed to provide proof of any conflict crimes they might have dedicated. The prisoners are additionally mentioned to have been examined by lie detector.
Jail employees say that Russian soldier Vadim S., who was additionally imprisoned together with the prisoners right here, allegedly solely confessed to taking pictures and killing a civilian within the Sumy area throughout a lie detector check.
On Might 23, a Ukrainian courtroom sentenced him to life in jail. It was the primary verdict in a trial of a Russian prisoner of conflict in Ukraine.
Retaining detainees in good well being for prisoner exchanges
Not one of the prisoners DW spoke with complained about poor jail situations or inhumane therapy. “We’re requested day-after-day if we want something. If attainable, we get it. The meals is balanced,” says Roman.
Based on the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, round 3,000 hryvnia (the equal of 95 euros) are wanted every month for a prisoner of conflict — to supply for meals, clothes, hygiene objects, in addition to water and electrical energy. As well as, there are bills for medical tools and medication, in addition to staffing prices.
The Russian prisoners of conflict have entry to books and may use metallic cutlery
Deputy Justice Minister Olena Vysozka advised DW that the bills are justified as a result of the detention situations for prisoners of conflict must adjust to the Geneva Conference. As well as, Russian prisoners have to be wholesome and in fine condition for exchanges with Ukrainians captured by the Russians, she mentioned.
Therapy of prisoners in Ukraine and Russia
In an interview with DW, the top of the UN Mission for Human Rights in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, mentioned that the situations of detention for Russian prisoners of conflict have been passable total. Based on Bogner, nonetheless, UN observers had additionally obtained info that Russian troopers have been allegedly mistreated and tortured after their seize.
There’s additionally proof that Ukrainian POWs in Russia and in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine are being tortured instantly after their seize, Bogner mentioned: “There’s a lack of meals and hygiene, and the therapy on the a part of the guards is tough.”
The Russian prisoners of conflict are seperated from different regular detainees within the facility
The UN has referred to as on each side to deal with POWs humanely and to promptly and successfully examine all alleged instances of torture and ill-treatment.
There are not any official figures on what number of Russian troopers are detained in Ukraine. Their quantity is continually altering as a consequence of common exchanges.
“Hope by no means dies,” says 20-year-old Dmitry, who continues to be ready for a prisoner alternate. After three months in captivity, all he needs is to return residence.
And, he provides, he by no means needs to serve within the military once more.
This text was initially written in Russian