Ukrainian intelligence has confirmed that Russia has formed combat battalions of Ukrainian prisoners of war, Ukrinform reported.
This was announced at a press conference by Andriy Pasternak, head of the unified center for coordinating the search and release of prisoners of war and illegally detained people as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The center is part of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).
"We know about such battalions. Together with colleagues from the Foreign Intelligence Service and Military Intelligence, we monitor and document such cases. There are facts about this," Pasternak pointed out.
The media has already reported that Russia is forming combat units from Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The Ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Lubynets announced yesterday that the death of 375 Ukrainian citizens in Russian captivity has been confirmed so far, Ukrinform reported.
The death of 375 Ukrainian citizens in Russian captivity has been confirmed at this stage, that is the number of bodies returned to Ukraine, said the Ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Lubynets during a press conference, quoted by Ukrinform.
"We have a separate list, which currently contains 375 names. These are Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian hostages who have been confirmed to have been detained by Russia. Their identities were also confirmed through the international mechanism of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Their remains were handed over to Ukraine, which means that the Russian Federation has returned the bodies of Ukrainian citizens who were tortured to death," Lubinets said.
The Ombudsman stressed that Russia has created a system in which torture, humiliation and illegal sentences have become instruments of war.