Almost 200 cases against Ukrainian military personnel heard in courts in occupied territories – human rights activists

This was reported by the executive director of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, Tatyana Katrichenko, speaking at a presentation at Ukrinform.

“Currently, it can be said that 94 cases concerning military personnel are being considered or have already been completed in Russia, in which at least 154 defendants are involved. As for military personnel tried in the occupied territories, we know of 218 cases and 342 defendants. If we talk about the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as the occupied areas of Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, then these are 196 cases concerning military personnel and 267 defendants. As for civilians tried under occupation, these are 236 cases and 269 defendants,” Katrichenko said.

She recalled that the Russian Federation is also holding Ukrainian servicemen in the Kursk region, where 85 defendants are currently being held, that is, those who have been investigated in Russian courts.

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“About 75 Ukrainian citizens are still on trial. These are Ukrainian citizens detained until 2022. Naturally, these statistics are preliminary, given the numbers that we are monitoring, including (ed.) Crimean cases. So, in total, more than 600 cases that Russia has initiated or is considering after the full-scale invasion,” the human rights activist emphasized.

According to her, cases involving prisoners of war include, among other things, charges of terrorism.

“Usually all these cases are heard in the Rostov Military Court. Cases of terrorism, as a rule, concern organizations that are considered terrorist in the Russian Federation, but in fact these are units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Defense Forces, such as Azov, Aidar, Donbass. There are both isolated cases and mass cases. If we are talking about military personnel in the occupied territories, then they are charged, in particular, under general criminal articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. By the way, when it comes to cases against military personnel, we obviously see that Russia ignores their combatant status and denies the existence of an international armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine,” Katrichenko noted.

According to the human rights activist, Russia is currently creating a huge number of cases against Ukrainian prisoners of war.

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“If we talk about civilians, then under occupation, some cases involving civilians are being considered. Usually, this could be espionage or extremism. As soon as an accusation of terrorism appears, such cases are immediately “moved” to the Russian Federation, in particular to the Rostov Court, and cases involving civilians are considered there. However, each case must be considered (separately – ed.),” Katrichenko said.

As reported by Ukrinform, on December 5, 2024, Ukrainian human rights activists published a report on illegal trials of prisoners of war and civilians held in Russian prisons and temporarily occupied territories. It was presented in The Hague, where the 23rd session of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court was held.