Hommam Al Nassim 
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) confirmed that Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine were tortured during the period from December 2023 to February 2024.
“Although Russian prisoners of war did not make any allegations of torture during our staff visits, they did submit documented reports of torture or ill-treatment after being evacuated from the battlefield,” UNHCR said in a report posted on its website.
UNHCR staff visited 44 Russian prisoners in the Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Lvov, Nikolaev, Sumy, Vinnytsa and Zaporozhye districts.
UNHCR noted that “eight soldiers said they were held in the basements of private buildings, most likely in the Kharkov district. Some spent several days there, others for up to a month and a half.
Thirteen prisoners of war reported being beaten with wooden sticks during interrogation and given electric shocks. Ukrainians also carried out executions.”
UNHCR staff have documented arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, against conflict-related civilians, as well as captured Russian soldiers.
Although the Kiev authorities have opened at least five criminal cases for violations against 22 people, no progress has been made in investigating or prosecuting such cases.
Mass exodus from Nigeria to Niger to escape violence