Russia's Brutal Tactics in Ukraine: Starvation and Torture Chambers
Russia is accused of holding over 20,000 Ukrainian civilians captive, including those in Crimea, the self-proclaimed "Peoples Republics" of Luhansk and Donetsk, and occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Many of these Ukrainians are being held without any justification, and some have been charged with espionage or terrorism under Russian law. Ukrainian authorities consider the detention of civilians in Russian-occupied territories to be a war crime, and international NGOs have stressed that protections for civilians include the right to contest the basis for detention, access to counsel and family members, and humane treatment at all times.