A new package of materials regarding the deportation and illegal detention of over 1,800 Ukrainian prisoners in the Russian Federation has been submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. This was reported by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, according to UNN.
A new package of materials regarding the deportation and illegal detention of over 1,800 Ukrainian prisoners from the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions in the Russian Federation has been sent to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court,
According to Kravchenko, in November 2022, the Russian military forcibly moved these people through occupied Crimea to penal colonies in the Russian Federation. Evidence indicates that this was a pre-organized operation — from the seizure of Ukrainian prisons to the detention of people on the territory of the aggressor state.
"In Russian colonies, Ukrainian prisoners are beaten, tortured, subjected to psychological pressure, threatened with execution, and forced to build enemy military fortifications. They are forcibly imposed with Russian citizenship, illegally detained after their sentences expire, or detained repeatedly.
These are war crimes and crimes against humanity in accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law," Kravchenko emphasized.
According to the Prosecutor General, the materials submitted to the ICC are based on the testimony of over 400 victims and eyewitnesses, as well as an analysis of Russian court decisions, official documents, responses from Russian state authorities, and other evidence.
"This result was made possible thanks to the active position and expert activities of the NGO 'Protection of Prisoners of Ukraine', the 'European Prison Litigation Network', and the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.
This is a clear example of coordination between state bodies and the human rights community in forming an evidentiary base for national and international justice. Not for the sake of reporting, but for the sake of restoring justice and holding Russian war criminals accountable. And it will happen. Consistent, inevitable, and by name," Kravchenko emphasized.