The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, together with civil society organizations, submitted materials to the International Criminal Court about the deportation and forced transfer of about 1,800 Ukrainian prisoners from Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
This was reported during the presentation of the report “Deportation to Hell” by Oleksandr Zyuz, a representative of the department of the Office of the Prosecutor General, Ukrinform writes.
According to him, in November 2022, before the withdrawal of Russian troops from parts of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, Ukrainian prisoners were first taken to occupied Crimea, and then to Russia. There they were distributed to penal colonies in various regions.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, Ukrainians were held in poor conditions and were subjected to torture and ill-treatment.
“Such crimes show signs of being systematic and large-scale, so they were classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Zyuz said.
The materials submitted to the ICC also mention people who may have been involved in organizing the deportation and the detention of Ukrainian prisoners.
The Office of the Prosecutor General hopes that this information will help in the investigation and in holding the Russian leadership accountable.