What Russian prisoners of war are told

The place is secret. DW can not reveal him, but can write about their stories. For detention and treatment conditions. What do they think about the war?

The second floor of the prison is intended only for Russian prisoners of war. They are kept separate from other pre-trial detainees for security reasons. At the request of the State Penitentiary of Ukraine, DW received permission to speak with Russian prisoners of war. Provided the secrecy of their place of detention and the non-disclosure of their persons. They should also speak to those who have not been charged with war crimes and who have not been prosecuted. DW journalists were the first to be given such permission by the press. The filming in the detention prisons was exclusive. The visit of journalists does not surprise the detainees. They say that representatives of the UN or the Red Cross come every week. And that they are all professional soldiers and that they have no problem talking about their lives. During the interviews, DW reporters were accompanied by prison staff. They opened the cells and asked them to choose their own interlocutors. They selected two cells and 4 interlocutors for the interviews.

“Only here did my eyes open”

“They honestly made fun of us, at first they told us we would deal with humanitarian issues, but I was immediately sent to the front,” said Roman, of the Russian city of Vyborg. He was wounded in a battle in Kharkov, the Ukrainian army took him and offered him medical treatment. Antyom, another prisoner of war, on the other hand, stresses that he knowingly decided to take part in the “special operation” against Ukraine. He saw an ad on the Internet and immediately went to Donetsk controlled by pro-Russian autonomists and within a few days learned to operate a T-72 armor. Then they sent him to Zaporizhia. But his armored vehicle was destroyed and he was arrested by Azov’s battalion. The Russian prisoner assures that he was given food and cigarettes. “I did not see fascists.” Asked why he came to Ukraine, Andyom replied: “It is said on TV that we are fighting for something good, but in reality it is not. Only here did my eyes open.” He calls the Russian army a “murderer and looter.” The prisoner cell has old furniture but is clean. There are plastic plates on the common table. Everyone has their own. But the fork and the spoon are made of metal. Like any normal prisoner for security reasons, the dishes are plastic, but for prisoners of war things are easier, they are not aggressive and they expect to exchange them with Ukrainians.

Food is distributed to the Russians by a Ukrainian prisoner under the supervision of a guard. Through an opening of the door each cell gets borscht and oatmeal. For breakfast they eat corn porridge and meat. According to the program hanging in the hallway, there is food three times a day, prisoners of war can go out for movement daily and wash twice a day. In another cell are three young men between the ages of 20 and 21. There is a stack of books on the table near the bed. They say they like to read detective stories and novels. 20-year-old Dmitri admits that his emotional state is in a miserable state. He emphasizes that he did not know that on February 24 he would leave the Russian city of Belgorod for Ukraine. “They did not tell us where to go. When we were in Ukraine and saw flags and signs, we understood. I asked the commander what we were going to do and he told me not to ask meaningless questions,” Dmitry said. When his tank came under fire near Priluki in the Chernigov region on February 27, he surrendered to the Ukrainians.

Can one trust what the Russian prisoners say?

DW spoke with Oleg from Karelia in a separate room. He says he extended his contract with the Russian armed forces in March. “I believed in the news on television that we would help, that there were nationalists here who were killing and torturing their own people,” he said. But when he arrived in the Kharkiv region he did not see any nationalists. “When we entered the villages, people shouted at us to disappear.”

When he signed his contract, Oleg says that he was promised training, but also that he would not go to the front line of fire. However, after only three days, he was sent to encircle the city of Kharkov. He was the leader of a group of men and claimed that he tried to return to Russia, but the military leadership did not allow him to do so. Everyone DW spoke to said that they regretted taking part in the invasion and that they did not shoot peaceful civilians in villages and towns, and that Ukrainian investigators have not yet provided them with evidence of war crimes. It is even said that the detainees were checked with a lie detector. According to lawyers, the use of such methods is scientifically and legally controversial. Prison staff say Russian Sergeant Vadim Sisimarin only confessed after using a lie detector that he shot and killed a civilian in the Sumy area. On May 23, he was sentenced to life in prison by a Ukrainian court. It was the first conviction against a Russian prisoner of war. None of the detainees complained to DW about poor detention or inhuman treatment. “Every day we are asked if we need something and when it is done, they give it to us. The food is balanced,” says Roman. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, each prisoner receives the corresponding amount of 95 euros for food, clothes, sanitary ware, water and electricity. In addition, they cover expenses for medical equipment and medicines as well as personal expenses.

The Deputy Minister of Justice, Olena Vizoska, assured DW that the amount of the expenses is justified because the detention conditions must meet the terms of the Geneva Convention. In addition, he adds, the exchange of prisoners requires the Russians to be in good health. But according to Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Mission in Ukraine, observers have information about torture and ill-treatment of Russians immediately after their capture. But Bogner notes that conditions in the prisons, where the Russians are waiting for an exchange, are satisfactory. Representatives of the UN mission also point out that both Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia and in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine are being tortured immediately after their arrest, but most likely while in custody. There is often a lack of food and hygiene and the way they are treated by the guards is harsh. The UN urges both sides to treat prisoners of war with humanity.

Phil Ana

Performance from the Russian: Markian Ostapskuk

Source: Deutsche Welle