MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Russian troops released from Ukrainian captivity have reported countless acts of violence against them, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Tuesday.
"The Investigative Committee is looking into the inhumane treatment of Russian POWs in Ukraine. Russian troops who returned to Russia as a result of a prisoner swap with Ukraine have reported numerous acts of violence against them to the Investigative Committee’s officers," the statement reads. "After the investigation is over, a decision will be made on opening a criminal case," the committee added.
These Russian troops are now undergoing treatment and rehabilitation in medical facilities. Their stories are full of examples of Ukrainians violating the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war, which bans violence and torture.
One of the troops said that he had been captured after running out of ammunition during a 15-hour battle. Ukrainian service members tied his hands and blindfolded him before taking him to the city of Kharkov where he was beaten with clubs and batons. Ukrainian Security Service members also used chokeholds and threatened to shoot him unless he read out a note they had prepared on camera.
"Another service member said that he had been captured after suffering a thigh wound and had to endure medical procedures in the hospital without painkillers. He was beaten and tortured with electric shocks. He was brought to a basement along with three other Russian troops, where Ukrainians poured water on him and beat him up before leaving him there for four days with no food and water," the Investigative Committee said.
Another service member was captured after sustaining two wounds and Ukrainian doctors amputated his leg. "A visit to the dressing ward always started in the same way, with a medical worker poking into the wound and watching him writhing in pain. He was badly beaten in between dressings," the Investigative Committee noted.