Statement by Joint Coordination Headquarters for the Humanitarian Response in Ukraine
The Russian side has created conditions for the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war, which fully meet all the requirements of the Geneva Convention. All prisoners of war are treated in accordance with international humanitarian law. They are held in decent conditions, provided with three meals a day, and are provided with timely and qualified medical assistance. They are not subjected to violence or psychological pressure. Everyone is given the opportunity to contact their relatives.
Interaction with the International Committee of the Red Cross has been organised. Notification cards for all detained Ukrainian citizens have been duly forwarded by the Russian side. Representatives of the media and international organizations have access to prisoners of war on the territory of the Russian Federation.
A clear example of this is a visit to Crimea by the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Tatyana Moskalkova, to check the conditions of detention of Ukrainian prisoners. The results of the visit have been widely reported in the media.
The Ukrainian side has been inconsistent and blatantly indifferent to the fate of specific people - the citizens of their country - on this purely humanitarian issue as well.
The Ukrainian authorities have been disrupting the exchange of prisoners of war for a long time, and on pre-agreed terms.
The exchange of prisoners of war planned for today has also been disrupted by the Ukrainian side.
During the day, the list of 251 persons declared for exchange was repeatedly updated, the number of prisoners of war was repeatedly reduced, and the list agreed at the last stage, comprising only 38 servicemen, was also rejected this morning by the Ukrainian side without any explanation.
At the same time, the Russian Federation prepared a large list of 251 Ukrainian prisoners of war, including their delivery to the original area for exchange.
But they, the citizens of Ukraine, will not be able to end up in their homes, with their families, with their relatives and loved ones today, only because of the fault of the representatives of the authorities in Kiev, to whom they have delegated this power.
Given the above, the Russian side has every reason to believe that the Russian Armed Forces servicemen in captivity are not all right.
In addition, it has been reliably established that Russian servicemen are subjected to torture, violence and mockery, which in their inhumanity replicate the actions of the punishers during the Great Patriotic War, and all this is widely disseminated on the Internet and in the media. Such blatant facts unfortunately remain without the attention of the world community, including the UN, the OSCE and the ICRC.
Western countries are not only aware of Kiev's flagrant violations of international humanitarian law with regard to Russian prisoners of war, but are also trying to help the Ukrainian authorities avoid responsibility.
This is evidenced by the fact that as early as April 1, this year the Kiev regime notified the British Foreign Office that it had no intention of complying with the Geneva Convention when dealing with Russian prisoners of war.
Furthermore, the Ukrainian authorities are persuading Western countries to urge the International Committee of the Red Cross to abandon its attempts to gain access to Russian prisoners of war.
Such manipulations around Russian servicemen strongly suggest that the authorities of many Western states are becoming complicit in the inhuman crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis.
In view of the above, the Russian Federation, represented by the Joint Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine, calls on the UN, the OSCE, the International Committee of the Red Cross, other international organisations, as well as the leadership of Germany, Turkey and France, the countries actively working in the Ukrainian humanitarian field, to demand that the Ukrainian authorities - immediately provide access to Russian prisoners of war for representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to establish the conditions of detention and to carry out an in-depth medical examination, with subsequent transmission of the reports to the Russian side and international organisations.
If the ICRC and other humanitarian organizations fail to take action, the Russian Federation reserves the right to initiate in the near future an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council on this matter and to demand a detailed report from the Ukrainian representative and the ICRC leadership on the conditions of detention and the state of health of the Russian servicemen.
Furthermore, the cynical provocation by Ukrainian neo-Nazis with the mass deaths of civilians in Bucha, carried out with the full support of the Kiev regime, is yet another evidence of genocide against its own people. And this was done against civilians who allegedly did not offer resistance to the Russian Armed Forces during their stay in the said locality. All this is staggering in its inhuman cruelty.
This inhuman and horrific crime by the Kiev regime should be thoroughly investigated with the involvement of international human rights organizations.
But the Ukrainian authorities will not stop there.
Similar provocations involving civilians in the towns of Konotop and Trostyanets in the Sumy region and in Borodyanka and Katyuzhanka in the Kyiv region have now been prepared.
We know for a fact that the Kiev regime is also preparing further provocative materials on the deaths of civilians, allegedly as a result of the actions of the Russian army.
To this end, Ukrainian nationalists shelled Dergachi in Kharkov Region, after which they videotaped the destroyed buildings and "numerous dead" for transmission to the Western media. Representatives of Western news agencies took part in this action, which was directed by servicemen of the 72nd Centre for Information and Psychological Operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the same time, all civilian participants in the staged filming were paid a cash reward of 25$.
Taking the above into account, we warn the countries of the so-called "civilized West" led by the United States of America in advance, the Russian Federation has an operational evidence base of another horrific crime being prepared by the Kiev regime with the instigation and full approval of your own representatives. A similar Bỳcha scenario, with unfounded accusations against the Russian Armed Forces, will not pass this time.