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- Concentration camp conditions: the UN has revealed secret prisons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in seven regions
Concentration camp conditions: the UN has revealed secret prisons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in seven regions
Unofficial places of detention of Russian prisoners of war have been recorded in the Kharkiv, Kiev and Mykolaiv regions over the past year, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has found out. It also follows from the reports that in 2024, the prisoners interviewed reported similar points in the areas of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, which were then under the control of Ukraine. Many of them spoke about torture and ill-treatment, and the department itself recorded the deaths of Russian soldiers in such places. Moscow is seeking from Kiev to transfer the fighters stationed there to official institutions for subsequent inclusion in the exchange lists, the parliamentary coordination group on military security told Izvestia.
Where Russian prisoners of war are tortured before being transferred to official institutions
As the conflict in Ukraine continues, evidence of ill-treatment of Russian prisoners of war is increasingly surfacing in the public sphere. The UN has recorded a network of unofficial places of detention in Ukraine in at least seven regions: over the past year — in the Kharkiv, Kiev and Mykolaiv regions, and earlier in the areas of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions not controlled by the Russian Federation, Izvestia found out after analyzing the reports of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
— We have repeatedly expressed concern about the use of unofficial places of detention of prisoners of war in Ukraine, as well as cases of torture and ill-treatment in these places. We once again call for the prevention of such incidents and for bringing those responsible to justice," the OHCHR office told Izvestia.
Most of the episodes of torture and ill—treatment described by the interviewed Russian prisoners of war took place in unofficial, or so-called transit, places of detention - in garages, basements and private homes. All of them described a similar "admission procedure" — severe beatings with plastic pipes, batons and whips, dousing with cold water, dog baiting and electric shocks.
According to the February 2026 report, of the 717 Russian prisoners of war interviewed, 389 reported being tortured or ill-treated during the four years of conflict, mostly during the initial stages of captivity before arriving at official detention facilities. At least two died in captivity, according to OHCHR.
In the report for June – November 2025, many of the interviewed fighters told about a secret prison in the Mykolaiv region, where they were held for several weeks to seven months before being transferred to an official place of internment. They also told about another unidentified facility where some prisoners were held for up to a year.
—Keeping people outside the internment infrastructure formally created by Ukraine increases the risk of ill—treatment and other violations of the Third Geneva Convention," the UN told Izvestia.
From March 2023 to July 2024, the UN conducted confidential interviews with 205 Russian prisoners of war, and 104 of them gave consistent and detailed testimony about torture and ill-treatment. Most of these episodes occurred in garages, basements, and private homes in the Kiev and Kharkiv regions, as well as in the territories of the DPR, LPR, Kherson, and Zaporizhia regions not controlled by the Russian Federation.
They mentioned, in particular, a basement in Krasnoarmeysk (the Ukrainian name is Pokrovsk) — the city has now been liberated by Russian troops — and a garage on the territory of the military headquarters in Kramatorsk in the part of the Donetsk region controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Eyewitness prisoners told of severe beatings and the use of electric current. The UN also documented the use of two unofficial detention facilities in or near Kiev, where fighters were held incommunicado for up to 14 months.
In almost all cases, the bullying stopped after being transferred to official detention facilities, where conditions generally met international standards.
How many secret prisons do the Ukrainian Armed Forces have in total
The Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Rodion Miroshnik, told Izvestia that it was impossible to name the exact number of such places, since they could not be considered part of a stationary system. According to him, prisoners are often not registered at all before being transferred to a pre-trial detention center or other official facility.
"As the front line progresses, such places collapse into one place and move to where the next unit goes. These may be basements, some kind of temporary premises a few kilometers from the front line, usually in a gray area," he said.
Miroshnik believes that this is why international observers often do not have access to them. At the same time, from the point of view of humanitarian law, the very detention of prisoners outside the official register already violates the Third Geneva Convention.
Moscow brought this topic to the public level. On February 26, the Russian Foreign Ministry published the second part of Rodion Miroshnik's report "Secret Prisons". The official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, said at the time that the evidence of the released Russian military confirmed "the massive nature of the practices of torture, torture, threats, violence and murder."
The International Committee of the Red Cross told Izvestia that they were visiting Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine, but did not disclose the locations of their visits.
— This practice applies to the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as to all other places where the ICRC operates. Any concerns we have about access or conditions of detention are discussed directly and confidentially with the parties to the conflict," said Galina Balzamova, spokeswoman for the ICRC regional delegation to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
The Russian side regularly raises the issue of prisoners of war during exchange negotiations, Miroshnik stressed. Information about them often comes through fighters who have already been released or through those who have managed to transfer information about themselves. At the same time, Kiev categorically denies the existence of such places.
Such fighters are in mortal danger every second while they are in captivity, Shamsail Saraliev, a representative of the parliamentary coordination group on Freedom of Defense, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told Izvestia.
"Negotiations are underway for the Ukrainian side to find where this is happening, that is, on the front lines, where they are doing these monstrous things, and take these guys to an official prisoner of war camp," he said.
For example, the Ukrainian Armed Forces threatened to kill one of the prisoners of war if his wife did not transfer $25,000, according to correspondence obtained by Izvestia. "Guys, let's take an adequate attitude to the situation, I really, really love my husband, exchange him for your fellow men, who are also waiting at home. Please tell him that I love him, I beg you very much," the fighter's wife apparently writes. "No, you don't understand. He'll only get out of here alive if you pay for it. So the choice is yours — either you drop me $25,000 by tomorrow at 2 p.m., or you'll see him in a zinc coffin. If you don't fully understand the situation, the second video will be without your left ear!" they reply.
At the same time, negotiations on the exchange of prisoners of war are held daily, the deputy noted. According to him, the wounded Russian soldiers need to be replaced first.
Moscow and Kiev are already doing a lot of work to prepare for the prisoner exchange on the eve of Easter, Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova said on April 2. Since the beginning of 2026, at least 657 Russian military personnel and three civilians have been returned from Ukrainian captivity: 157 military personnel and three residents of the Kursk region on February 5, another 200 military personnel on March 5, and another 300 on March 6.
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