Currently, human rights activists have confirmed data on 196 court cases being heard the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions against Ukrainian military personnel, in which 267 defendants were registered.
This was reported by the Executive Director of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, Tetiana Katrychenko, who spoke at a presentation hosted by Ukrinform.
“We can currently say that 94 cases involving military personnel are being heard or have already been completed in Russia, in which there are at least 154 defendants. As for military personnel tried in occupied areas, we are aware of 218 cases and 342 defendants. If we talk about the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, these are 196 cases involving military personnel and 267 defendants. And when we talk about civilians tried under occupation, it is 236 cases and 269 defendants,” Katrychenko said.
She recalled that the Russian Federation is also holding Ukrainian military personnel in Kursk region, and that currently there are 85 defendants – that is, people who have ended up on trial in Russian courts.
“About 75 Ukrainian citizens are still on trial. These are Ukrainian citizens who had been detained before 2022. Of course, these statistics are not final, based on the figures that we monitor, plus (ed.) the Crimea cases. That is, in total, there are more than 600 cases that Russia initiated or is hearing after the full-scale invasion,” the rights activist noted.
According to her, cases involving prisoners of war, among other things, involve charges of terrorism.
“Usually, all these cases are heard in the Rostov Military Court. Cases of terrorism, as a rule, concern organizations, as they are considered in the Russian Federation, but in reality – units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Defense Forces, such as Azov, Aydar, and Donbas. There are both individual cases and mass cases. If this is about about military in occupied areas, they are charged, in particular, under general criminal articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. And, by the way, when it’s about cases against military personnel, we obviously see that Russia ignores their status of a combatant, and denies that the international armed conflict is taking place on the territory of Ukraine,” noted Katrychenko.
According to the rights activist, Russia is currently forming a huge number of cases against Ukrainian prisoners of war.
“If we talk about civilians, then some cases involving civilians are heard in the occupation. As a rule, this can be espionage, extremism. As soon as terrorism is added, such cases immediately “move” to the Russian Federation, in particular to the Rostov court, and such cases involving civilians are heard there. But each case must be analyzed (separately – ed.)”, – said Katrychenko.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, on December 5, 2024, Ukrainian rights activists rolled out a report on illegal trials of POWs and civilians imprisoned in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories. It was presented in The Hague, where the 23rd session of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court was taking place.
