More than 150 Ukrainian prisoners of war may be in Chechnya, – Coordination Center
14 February 19:50
There may be more than 150 captured Ukrainian soldiers on the territory of the Chechen Republic, 36 of them have the status of “search for a person,” but the likelihood of their stay in Grozny is very high.
This is reported by Radio Liberty with reference to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, "Komersant Ukrainian".
The International Committee of the Red Cross does not confirm that Ukrainians are being held captive in Chechnya, and the Coordination Headquarters is not aware of any visits by this humanitarian organization to Ukrainian prisoners in this Russian republic.
According to the headquarters, usually the military of the Defense Forces are captured from different parts of the frontline, but later they can be transferred to places of detention in Chechnya.
“As in other places of detention on the territory of the aggressor country and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the norms of humanitarian law and the requirements of the Third Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war are not observed. The Kadyrov regime uses prisoners as a human shield for military facilities, as well as a lever for lifting sanctions against members of the Kadyrov family,” the Coordination Center stated.
There have been no specific official proposals for the exchange from the Chechen authorities. Ukraine transmits all information about prisoners to the ICRC, but the Red Cross is unable to operate in Chechnya.
