Kremlin spreads false claims of torture against Russian POWs in Ukraine

Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) reported the information.

Russian Foreign Ministry representative Rodion Miroshnik recently alleged that Ukrainian forces torture Russian prisoners in so-called “secret prisons.”

Miroshnik’s remarks include the usual array of Russian propaganda clichés, with lurid references to “electric chairs,” “amputations,” and “dog attacks” — but offer no credible evidence to back up the accusations.

Moreover, the Center for Countering Disinformation pointed out that these allegations rely solely on testimonies from Russian POWs who returned home through prisoner exchanges. However, the physical condition of those individuals casts serious doubt on the credibility of their statements.

“These fabricated claims aim to shift blame for war crimes from the aggressor to the victim and to create an informational smokescreen around new evidence of Russia’s own atrocities,” the CCD explained.

At the same time, the United Nations continues to document fresh cases of summary executions of Ukrainian POWs. The UN has also reported incidents of torture, beatings, electrocution, sexual violence, and humiliation inside Russian detention facilities.

Ukraine, the CCD noted, actively cooperates with international monitoring bodies. Russia, by contrast, blocks access to international observers and hides information about the conditions in which it holds Ukrainian prisoners of war.

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