The Ministry of Defense stated that 81% of the servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation who returned from captivity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were subjected to beatings and physical violence.

Such data was cited by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin during a briefing on August 3 on the humanitarian issues of the special operation in Ukraine.

“55% of servicemen were forcibly involved in filming propaganda videos and video conferences,” Fomin said.

He also mentioned that 46% of servicemen were not provided with medical assistance, and 79% were deprived of the opportunity to contact their relatives.

In addition, 19% of captured military personnel were provided with insufficient food or food of unsatisfactory quality.

“So, in the place of detention of detainees belonging to the SBU in Kyiv, food was provided once a day: a piece of bread, 50 gr.

porridge, a glass of water.

At the same time, the servicemen were constantly wearing masks covering their eyes, ”Fomin noted.

He stressed that Russia regularly sends information about these and other facts of the behavior of the Ukrainian side to relevant humanitarian structures with a request to influence Kyiv.

Compliance with regulations regarding Ukrainian prisoners of war

As the Deputy Minister of Defense noted during the briefing, since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia has taken comprehensive measures to comply with the norms of international humanitarian law.

“Meticulous work is underway to treat detained Ukrainians in accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law, primarily the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War,” Fomin said.

According to him, weekly meetings are held with representatives of international organizations, primarily the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

They discuss the most pressing humanitarian issues in the Ukrainian direction.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, more than 40 such meetings have been held since February 2022.

As Fomin noted, all Ukrainian detainees are treated in strict accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law.

“They are provided with decent living conditions, food standards meet the standards of the military personnel of the RF Armed Forces, and all the necessary medical care is provided, including complex high-tech operations using modern equipment,” he said during a briefing.

They are also given the opportunity to contact their relatives in Ukraine by phone or mail.

It is specified that more than 1.5 thousand such letters were sent to Ukraine.

In addition, the Ministry of Defense recalled that, together with the UN and the ICRC, operations were successfully carried out in April-May to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol and withdraw military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and militants of the Azov regiment from this facility *.

“In total, more than 3 thousand people left Azovstal, of which more than 2,400 were military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and fighters of nationalist formations,” Fomin said.

Recall that in April, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to block the Azovstal industrial zone in Mariupol instead of storming it. 

“We must always think, but in this case even more so, about saving the life and health of our soldiers and officers.

There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities, ”the president said during a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

At the same time, the head of state said that the Russian side guarantees all representatives of the Ukrainian forces life, medical care and decent treatment in accordance with relevant international legal acts.

Shelling of Yelenovka

Fomin noted during the briefing that the Kyiv authorities, using the patronage of the West, do not limit themselves to moral or legal norms and commit crimes that are not properly appreciated by the international community.

In this regard, the Deputy Minister of Defense focused on the incident in Yelenovka, where 50 people were killed as a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

He recalled that on July 29, a temporary detention facility on the territory of the DPR was hit with a HIMARS multiple launch rocket system provided to Ukraine by the United States.

  • Briefing frame of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

“At the time of the strike, prisoners of war were kept in the IK, including surrendered Azov residents.

There were 193 people in the block that was hit.

Most of them were members of the Azov regiment.

As a result of the shelling, 50 prisoners of war were killed and 73 were wounded.

Eight employees of the pre-trial detention center were also injured,” he said.

The Deputy Minister of Defense stressed that the Ukrainian authorities, without providing any evidence, are trying to shift the responsibility for the death of Ukrainian prisoners of war to the Russian Federation.

At the same time, Fomin noted that when planning such attacks, Kyiv actively uses space and air intelligence data received from the US Armed Forces and their allies.

“The totality of these facts only confirms the guilt of the Kyiv regime in the murder of its citizens,” he concluded.

* "Azov" - the organization was recognized as a terrorist organization by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 08/02/2022.