Numerous instances of Russian troops torturing, mistreating, or forcibly imprisoning Ukrainians in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been reported by Human Rights Watch.
On Saturday, according to a report by Deutsche Welle, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed that civilians and prisoners of war were being tortured in southern Ukraine by Russian military forces.
In the occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the rights organisation claimed to have conducted interviews with dozens of people, which revealed 42 instances in which Russian military had either “disappeared” citizens or imprisoned them without cause.
According to Yulia Gorbunova, senior researcher for Ukraine at Human Rights Watch, Russian soldiers had converted occupied parts of Ukraine into abyss of fear and wild lawlessness.
According to the HRW, many had experienced torture, and some had no touch with the outside world.
Moreover, it reported that three prisoners of war from Ukraine’s territorial defence forces were tortured and lost two of them.
According to the rights organisation, the abuse appeared to be carried out with the intention of gathering information and sowing fear in order to convince locals to accept Russian occupation.
