KYIV — The
Ukrainian military has paraded captured
Russian soldiers before the media and made them recite repentances for their
invasion, prompting the Red Cross to warn that prisoners must not be
mistreated.
اضافة اعلان
Eyes red, faces gaunt, and in some cases scratched,
10 young Russians in green fatigues were lined up before the press and cameras
at an event attended by AFP on March 4.
Some of them stared at their boots and avoided
looking at the cameras, while others appeared more at ease.
It was the second such act in a week organized by
Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service.
Despite being widely recognized as the victim as
Russia bombards its cities, Kyiv risks ceding moral ground over the February 24
Russian invasion to Moscow, which has accused it of torturing detainees.
“Prisoners of war and detained civilians must be
treated with dignity,” the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said
in a statement.
Prisoners “are absolutely protected against
ill-treatment and exposure to public curiosity including images circulating
publicly on social media,” it said.
The Ukrainian defense ministry and the SBU did not
respond to questions from AFP about their methods.
Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich called in an
online video for “humane treatment of prisoners”. He reminded viewers that
Ukraine’s western partners were watchful on the subject.
Speak to the camera
Blindfolded with tape, the
soldiers were pushed along in single file, holding one another by the shoulders
to keep from falling.
They were then groomed and taken into a room where
they were shown videos of Russian bombardments, while a Ukrainian officer named
the cities being bombed.
“Look what your army is doing,” the officer said.
“They would tell your parents that you died on maneuvers, not that you were
here.”
Each soldier then faced the cameras and stated his
name, his unit and how he had entered Ukraine.
Each said that he was voluntarily stepping up to
condemn
Russia’s invasion — using the same phrases as the other soldiers.
Each soldier said he was being well treated and
ended by calling on Russians not to believe their President
Vladimir Putin’s
“lies”.
Russia has not reacted specifically to these
appearances, but more generally its defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov
on February 27 said Russian prisoners of war were facing “torture”. He compared
them to victims of “the German Nazis and their henchmen”.
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