GENEVA — More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians remain detained by Russia, many without contact with their families and in conditions that the United Nations says include torture and other serious abuses, according to an assessment presented to the U.N. Security Council this week.
Claudia Fuentes Julio, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights, told the council that the United Nations estimates more than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians are still being held in Russian custody. The figure is consistent with earlier estimates from Ukrainian authorities, who have maintained that thousands of civilians detained in occupied Ukrainian territory have been transferred to Russia or held in detention facilities in occupied areas.
The United Nations has documented widespread mistreatment of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war in Russian custody. It has reported cases involving torture, sexual violence, ill-treatment, inadequate medical care and prolonged incommunicado detention. The U.N. says access to Russian detention facilities remains severely restricted, limiting independent verification of the full scale of the problem.
The U.N. has also documented 129 executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war and 48 deaths in custody attributed to torture and inhumane detention conditions, according to the latest briefing. Fuentes Julio said more than 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war interviewed by U.N. investigators reported torture or other mistreatment, while 85% of interviewed civilian detainees reported similar abuses.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for the release of civilian detainees, arguing that they cannot be treated in the same way as prisoners of war. Unlike military personnel captured during hostilities, civilians are protected by international humanitarian law and are not subject to the same exchange mechanisms used for prisoners of war.
The European Union has also cited Ukrainian authorities' estimate of around 16,000 civilians currently detained by Russia and said many originated from Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation. The EU has called for stronger international coordination to secure their release.
Russia has rejected accusations of systematic abuses as politically motivated and has disputed Western and Ukrainian accounts of conditions in its detention system. Moscow has also accused Ukraine and its allies of using allegations of human-rights violations for propaganda.
The U.N. says the absence of unrestricted access to detention sites in Russia and occupied Ukrainian territory remains a major obstacle to determining the fate and whereabouts of many detainees. Efforts to clarify their status and secure releases continue amid the broader war.
