At least 206 Ukrainian POWs have perished in Russian detention facilities, prisons, and holding centers since the start of the full-scale war, according to an Associated Press report.
Multiple sources—including human rights groups, UN officials, Ukrainian authorities, and a forensic specialist who examined deceased Ukrainian soldiers—attribute many prisoner deaths to abusive treatment during confinement.
Ukrainian officials argue that Russia's repeated handover of severely disfigured or decomposed POW remains indicates attempts to conceal systemic torture, starvation, and inadequate medical care across detention sites in both Russia and occupied territories.
The AP reports Ukraine intends to pursue war crimes charges against Russia at the ICC regarding prisoner abuse. Evidence will include testimonies from released captives and postmortem findings from deceased soldiers.
A 2024 UN document reveals 95% of freed Ukrainian troops endured systematic torture, including beatings, suffocation, sexual violence, electric shocks, forced stress positions, sleep deprivation, and mock executions by Russian detention staff.
"This conduct flagrantly violates international law," stated Danielle Bell, leader of the UN's Ukraine human rights monitoring mission.