Lifetime for Ukraine's Defense: As in Russia, prisoners of war are judged and what terms give

Paul is a soldier 501 of a separate battalion of the Marines. At the time of the full -scale invasion, he was near the village of Shirokin on the shore of the Azov Sea, and later the unit was relocated to Mariupol, where by the beginning of April the fighters defended the city. "Where exactly was my husband, I didn't know exactly, he did not tell me," says Pavel Anna's wife focus. "But there was a difficult situation - there was no food, ammunition as well.

On April 5, I learned that the battalion of the husband got into the Facebook on April 5. captivity". Where exactly - Anna also did not know. Only at the end of 2022 did the girl see the name, name, patronymic of her husband in one of the telegrams-channels. "They wrote there that he was well, he was in the colony. As it turned out, it was a colony in the Russian Federation in the Tula region in the settlement of Don. It must be judged, "she adds.

Anna also knows a little about the so -called case of her husband. He assumes that Paul could be taken out of Mordovia, because there are no "courts". Through one of the Russian resources of the Federal Sentence Service, she tried to write a letter to her husband and eventually received an answer. As it turned out, those who were officially announced have the right to correspond with the Russian Federation. "From the letter I learned that he had significantly deteriorated health.

Varicosis increased. The skin changed color. According to the man, she became carrot-red. With their teeth, their teeth still wrote. What Anna does not say very willingly, so it is about the case of a man - is afraid of harm. "I know that a man is being tried, I do not know - for", - she explains. But he clarifies: seven more guys pass with him. They are all accused of attacking the object of civilian infrastructure.

They will probably be judged in the occupied territory as this facility is located in Donetsk region. After being captured, the Ukrainian military is subjected to interrogations. Russian investigators in each of them try to see a criminal who allegedly could harm the civilian population in the occupied territory. In most cases, according to the former prisoners of war, confessions are beaten by beating and torture.

Many are tortured to come up with a story that could become the basis of a criminal case, or to tell their brothers. When prisoners of war take up guilt, the so -called trial and trial begin. In total, according to the Investigative Committee of Russia, more than 200 Ukrainian servicemen have already been "convicted" from the beginning of a full -scale invasion and by March 1, 2024. And most such processes occur in the occupied territories, not in the Russian Federation.

For example, in Donetsk, the Ukrainian military is considered by the so -called Supreme Court - a quasi -law entity that has no legal force. But some of the courts are happening in the territory of the Russian Federation - it is where the Azov military units are judged. The lawyer and expert on international humanitarian law Andriy Yakovlev explains the focus that each state, indeed, has an obligation under the Geneva Conventions to investigate violations of laws and customs of war.

And Russia is no exception. But in the case of the Russian Federation it can be argued that it abuses these obligations, because it investigates not to establish the circumstances of a possible war crime, but to solve other problems. "According to the trends, according to the sentences that are available in public, we can say that lawsuits occur in an environment where it is impossible to make a representative decision. That is, the trial does not reflect the reality.

In fact, the Russian court makes a sentence, it may have some loud Name, but nothing was set in the process, the whole process is a fake, "he says. But explains that lawsuits should be conducted on certain principles. And there are only a few such principles. But can it be said that there is a defense in Russia that can resist the accusation? "No, we cannot, because both judges and Russian lawyers dependent on Russia so much that it excludes their impartial attitude," Yakovlev continues.

They are afraid to become the objects of persecution themselves. " It is also impossible to say that the information declared by the accused when he pleads guilty, or partially pleads guilty, is true. Even from the UN reports, we know that Russia is applying torture, and an impartial observer can see in what condition the prisoners of war are returned after exchanges - they are weak enough because they did not receive food. Therefore, we can assume that the treatment of them was at least inhuman.

Thus, the lawsuit conducted in the Russian Federation does not represent true information. Therefore, for what purpose the Russian Federation is conducted by such courts that do not recognize the world. One of the possible answers: the thesis that Ukrainian warriors violated the laws and customs of war, committed a military crime, can be used in the future as an argument during a negotiation with Ukraine to offset the crimes of the Russian Federation.

"The Russian Federation seeks to respond to those prosecutions that sound at its address internationally. And it also plays with those political forces in the West that in her view such a point of support that, they say, look, not all so clearly - Ukraine also The offender, its soldiers, is killed by the civilian population. Therefore, the mass persecution that Russia announces may be associated with political goals to discredit Ukraine.

" Recently analysts of the American Institute for Studying War (ISW) in their regular review analyzed the motives of the actions of Russia's authorities from the absentee persecution of Ukrainian military and officials under the laws of the Russian Federation - although formally these people are outside the Russian jurisdiction.

They stated: "The Kremlin's persecution of Ukrainian servicemen and political leadership, which conduct a completely legitimate defensive war against the invasion of a foreign state, in a way similar to domestic terrorists emphasizes Russia's constant conviction that the Ukrainian state does not exist and should not exist as a political formation from Russia. " And in order to have, so to speak, the possibility for maneuvers is used for such "lawsuits" of the occupied territories.

That is, if necessary, they say, such "sentences" are not Russian judges, but Ukrainian who have betrayed oaths. "Occupied territories are used not only because prisoners are being held there or" investigators "explore the episodes that occurred there, but obviously that in the occupied territories, judges are more immersed in the conflict system, and they have made such sentences there.

"Courts" and "prosecutors" often work former Ukrainian citizens, who, in violation of conscience, as recorded in the Geneva Convention, have announced such positions, - Andrei Yakovlev explains. " - And that says that they violated the rules of loyalty to their country and having received Russian citizenship, in fact became dependent. And it is obvious that in such situations of Russia will probably be more projected.

"In addition, there is limited access in the occupied territory, in particular, even for weak lawyers. The world is trying to hide what is happening in the occupation. There is a strict punishment. When representatives of the unit are held accountable only for the fact that he belonged to him. But under international law, the combatant cannot be held accountable because he has special immunity - a serviceman is forbidden to judge for participation in the war.

Russia, while arranging such processes, also hides its intention to punish the Ukrainian military for resistance. And by carrying cruel and great sentences - he seeks to influence the Ukrainian society, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to demonstrate: the continuation of struggle and captives will denote the harsh terms of punishment, so that the families of prisoners of prisoners are pressed on the Ukrainian authorities, to end the war.