At least 177 Ukrainian soldiers died in Russian captivity - Ministry of Defense
Since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of the country, at least 177 Ukrainians have died in Russian captivity, according to new data from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
As Censor.NET informs with reference to Politico, this was reported by the representative of the Coordinating Staff for Prisoners of War at the Ministry of Defense Viktoriya Tsimbaliuk.
"The more time (Ukrainian prisoners of war) spend in Russian prisons, the closer they are to death," Tsymbalyuk stressed.
According to her, the real death toll is probably much higher, since the lack of international control does not allow for an accurate calculation of losses. Tsymbalyuk noted that many bodies are not returned, and Russia does not always confirm the presence of prisoners on its territory.
"That's the number we have. But of course not all bodies are returned, and many are not even confirmed by Russia as being in captivity," she said.
The representative of the headquarters also clarified that as a result of exchanges between Moscow and Kyiv, about 3,600 Ukrainian prisoners of war and deported citizens have been released. However, thousands of Ukrainians continue to be in Russian prisons.
We will remind, in the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN, which was made public in early October, it is noted that Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians are systematically subjected to torture at all stages of their stay in Russian captivity.
