Russia uses POWs as a political weapon against Kyiv

KYIV — The final time Valentyna Tkachenko, a 35-year-old mom of two from Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, noticed her husband Serhii was simply earlier than Russia invaded her nation.

Serhii, a Nationwide Guard soldier, was captured on February 24 of final yr, the day Moscow launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine. His unit was guarding the Chernobyl nuclear energy plant when it was attacked by the Russians. When the Russian navy retreated from Chernobyl and the remainder of the Kyiv area on the finish of March, they took Serhii and 167 different POWs with them.

Since then, the wives of the captured troopers have solely heard from them as soon as — a brief handwritten notice: “I’m alive, the whole lot is OK,” despatched greater than six months after they had been taken prisoner.

Like 1000’s of different kin of Ukrainian POWs, Tkachenko has contacted Ukrainian authorities and the Worldwide Committee of Pink Cross (ICRC) and had written 4 letters, however heard nothing again till November 29. That is the day she obtained a video name on the Viber messaging app.

“It was Serhii. We talked just for three minutes. I used to be not allowed to ask him questions. As quickly as I attempted, he shook his head and simply mentioned no. As an alternative, he stored saying: ‘Valya, go make issues laborious for Kyiv. Kyiv doesn’t wish to take us again,’” Tkachenko recalled. “Then he mentioned he was sorry and ended the decision, promising to name me again if he ever has an opportunity.”

Tkachenko did not go off to show in opposition to the federal government, though household protests have taken place in Kyiv and different Ukrainian cities.

Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s coordinating employees on the therapy of prisoners of struggle, advised POLITICO that different households have obtained related calls from troopers being held by the Russians.

“An individual has not heard from a relative for greater than a yr, and right here he calls and says that he’s alive. Russians are able to change him, however Ukraine does nothing. Not too long ago these calls grew to become large. So, we understood that it is a marketing campaign to trigger mistrust within the authorities,” Yatsenko mentioned.

It is a stark change in coverage from the primary yr of the struggle, when the 2 sides often exchanged prisoners. In all, 2,598 folks have returned from Russian captivity throughout 48 swaps, in keeping with the Ukrainian navy. Nonetheless, the final main change was on August 7.

“It has actually slowed down as a consequence of causes from the Russian Federation, however there are very particular causes for this,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy advised a information convention in Kyiv this week.

Taking part in politics with POWs

The Russian refusal to change POWs seems aimed toward inflaming tensions in Ukrainian society, the place dissatisfaction with Zelenskyy is rising within the wake of this yr’s disappointing counteroffensive, and the temper is popping grim as essential support for Ukraine stalls within the U.S. Senate and Hungary blocks the EU’s efforts to spice up civilian and navy assist for Kyiv.

Tkachenko thinks her household, in addition to different prisoners of struggle, have change into instruments in a political recreation.

“They began so effectively, exchanging so many. However then abruptly all of it stopped. I believe Russians wish to discredit our authorities. Individuals are exhausted, and POWs’ kin are dropping their mood. They wish to trigger havoc,” Tkachenko mentioned bitterly.

Numerous the Ukrainian POWs had been captured following the bloody siege of Mariupol, a coastal metropolis the place Ukrainian troops held out for 3 months of ferocious assaults earlier than surrendering the Azovstal Iron and Metal Works in Might 2022.

Anastasiia Bugera, 22, from the Kharkiv area in jap Ukraine, has not spoken to her boyfriend, 24-year-old Kostyantyn Ivanov, since March 2022. She was in Russian-occupied Izyum when Ivanov was ordered to give up alongside a number of thousand different Azovstal defenders.

“I managed to name his mom from our neighbor’s out of doors bathroom sooner or later. She advised me he was making an attempt to name me and failed. I cried so laborious standing in that bathroom,” Bugera mentioned. The bathroom was the one place she might get a connection because the Russians had been making an attempt to dam cell alerts. Izyum was liberated by the Ukrainians in September 2022.

“We have now not had the chance to even say hi there to one another. They had been promised to be in captivity just for three to 4 months. However Russia lied,” Bugera mentioned.

Ukraine has managed to change only some dozen Azovstal defenders, together with the commanders of the Azov Regiment, however 1000’s of normal troops, police and border guards captured in Mariupol are nonetheless being held. In response to the Azovstal households’ affiliation, Russia doesn’t wish to change them. As an alternative, households sometimes see them on movies from Russian courts, malnourished, exhausted, and on trial accused of struggle crimes. Russia continues to dam any direct communication with them.

Life in jail

As of at the moment, Russia holds greater than 3,000 Ukrainian troopers and a few 28,000 civilians, the Ukrainian ombudsman’s workplace and reintegration ministry mentioned. Nonetheless, the actual quantity could also be even increased.

“For instance, a few of those that are in captivity haven’t been confirmed but. These persons are nonetheless thought of ‘lacking’ though we’ve got data they could be in captivity,” Yatsenko mentioned.

The Ukrainians haven’t mentioned what number of Russians they maintain, however they’ve so many that they are constructing a second POW camp to carry them. Russians are additionally being held in a particular facility in western Ukraine and housed in cells in pretrial detention facilities.

“I might say in the course of the counteroffensive Ukraine managed to extend the POWs change fund that was already massive due to the stalled exchanges,” Yatsenko mentioned. “However we’re able to accommodate all Russian troops combating in Ukraine, in case they resolve to give up.”

Ukraine says it’s treating its POWs in keeping with worldwide guidelines, however accuses Russia of mistreating its prisoners.

“Greater than 90 p.c of prisoners of struggle whom we interview after their return say that they had been subjected to torture, deprivation of adequate vitamin and sleep,” Yatsenko mentioned. “Individuals are being compelled to burn out tattoos or to eat solely Russian propaganda. They don’t seem to be allowed to speak with kin.”

Russia insists it’s treating its POWs effectively.

Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova on November 30 visited 119 Ukrainian POWs and mentioned they had been being held in circumstances that correspond to worldwide requirements.  

“Lots of them reported that they had been allowed to name their kin by cellphone by the competent Russian authorities,” Moskalkova mentioned in a press release printed a day after Tkachenko obtained the video name from her husband.

Moskalkova mentioned that preparations are being made together with her Ukrainian counterpart to permit for mutual visits.

The Worldwide Committee of the Pink Cross visits POWs on each side of the entrance — to date seeing 2,300 of them — however Russia hasn’t absolutely opened its services to outdoors inspection and the ICRC is institutionally restricted in its skill to criticize international locations out of concern that its entry shall be lower off.

“We’re painfully conscious that there are POWs that we nonetheless haven’t visited, and for this reason we’re always working in direction of bettering our entry to the locations the place they’re held. We have now additionally delivered greater than 3,800 private messages between POWs and their family members, on prime of facilitating the exchanges of over 9,300 letters from and to prisoners of struggle,” mentioned Achille Després, the ICRC spokesperson in Ukraine.

He refused to disclose any details about the particular circumstances through which POWs are held.

“Our aim is to work immediately with the detaining authorities, to affect in direction of the concrete enchancment of the interment circumstances and remind the related states of their authorized obligations, notably that POWs should always be handled humanely and their rights upheld, in addition to their integrity, dignity and privateness revered,” he mentioned.

Hoping for launch

With massive prisoner exchanges frozen, the one method captured troopers could make it again to their very own aspect is in casual battlefield swaps between commanders.

“Sadly, such sporadic exchanges can’t substitute those on the state stage,” Yatsenko mentioned.

In his information convention, Zelenskyy mentioned he hopes to see a change of coverage that may enable for a resumption of prisoner exchanges.

“We at the moment are working to carry again a reasonably first rate variety of our guys. God prepared, we’ll succeed,” he mentioned.

Ukraine hopes to jar the Kremlin into restarting swaps due to the rising variety of Russian POWs it is holding.

“As quickly as we accumulate, when you’ll forgive me the language, the suitable stockpile of enemy assets, we change them for our Ukrainian defenders … I actually hope that our pathway will quickly be activated,” Zelenskyy mentioned.