UNITED NATIONS, May 25. /TASS/. Many Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner have confessed that they had orders to open fire on civilians and to take no Russian prisoners, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, said at a meeting of the UN Security Council devoted to the protection of civilians amid armed conflicts.
"I would like to draw everybody’s attention to torture and other abuse, committed by the Ukrainian nationalists and army, against Russian prisoners of war. There are numerous testimonies by Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner they had received orders to open fire on civilians and to take no Russian miliary servicemen prisoner," he said.
Nebenzya stressed that the Russian army’s attitude to Ukrainian POWs was fundamentally different.
"In the Russian army, humane treatment of prisoners of war is normal," he said. "A confirmation of this can be seen in the treatment of Ukrainian soldiers and nationalists from the notorious regiment Azov, who have emerged from the Azovstal metal plant. As is known, a total of 2,439 men from various Ukrainian detachments surrendered there. All of them, including their commanders, were treated decently and the injured given medical assistance. This is confirmed by them and their relatives, whom they were allowed to contact. This is also true of those militants who have stained themselves with the gravest war crimes."
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov on May 20 said that the Russian army had gained full control of the territory of the Azovstal plant, where the remnants of Ukraine’s Mariupol garrison, including nationalists from the Azov unit, were holed up. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, more than 2,400 men laid down weapons and left Azovstal.