Russian soldiers carved swastikas into the foreheads of Ukrainian prisoners of war, a doctor has claimed.
A Ukrainian soldier named Serhiy was found mutilated and suffering from psychological trauma when he returned to his homeland from Russian captivity.
Dr. Olexandr Turkevich said he treated Serhiy, who told him how Russian soldiers had threatened to “take him apart piece by piece” while in their care.
“I want your children to know that you are a fascist.” “That’s why I cut deep,” a Russian soldier reportedly said to Serhij, who was blindfolded and carving his face.
Russia claims its “special military operation” in Ukraine is a denazification effort aimed at defending Russian-controlled areas in the east and south.
President Vladimir Putin has tasked his armed forces with propaganda, claiming that Ukraine has committed a genocide against Russian speakers in the region and that the government was organized by neo-Nazis under Western influence.
Doctors assume that the Ukrainian prisoner of war was mutilated with a knife while in Russian captivity
Serhiy has undergone laser surgery to reduce scarring from wounds he sustained last year
According to Dr. Turkevich: “These photos… show what kind of creatures our men have to deal with at the front,” the medic said.
Those bastards had Serhiy carve a swastika into his forehead…
“He told how, when they cut his forehead, they said: 'If you were an Azovian, I would take you apart piece by piece…'”
The Azov Assault Brigade, which played a key role in the defense of Mariupol, is viewed by Russians as a far-right or Nazi brigade.
Left with nothing left to heal the gaping wound he suffered, Serhiy refused medical treatment as a prisoner of war.
The swastika carved with a knife was “direct evidence” of genocide by the Russians, Dr. Turkevich.
He was “infinitely proud” of the work he was able to do to remove the Nazi brand from the man's forehead, which doctors believed had been carved with a knife.
The medical procedure is part of the Neopalymi aesthetic medicine initiative, which aims to help Ukrainian soldiers who have suffered disfiguring injuries or torture in war.
There are currently two known Ukrainian soldiers being treated for swastika branding.
They underwent laser treatment to reduce scarring.
“Badges of shame” have been used since ancient times. Prisoners, those accused of adultery and religious groups have been branded a crime by various sects over the years.
Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film “Inglorious Basterds” famously followed the story of fictional US soldiers in World War II who branded Nazi soldiers with swastikas.
Serhiy was captured by Russian forces in the occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine last December.
He was taken to a processing center and tortured for two weeks, locked in a basement without food and tortured where he was beaten unconscious, The Telegraph reports.
Serhiy was eventually transferred to the Russian Republic of Chechnya and released five months later as part of a prisoner exchange.
According to The Telegraph, the soldier still finds it difficult to talk about his experiences.
The pixelated body of a Ukrainian rape victim shows a bare, bruised torso with a large swastika symbol burned and scratched into his skin
Bodies lie on a street in Bucha, northwest of Kiev, as Russian troops undertook a “rapid withdrawal” from northern areas around Kiev and the city of Chernigov on April 2, 2022
Graves of unknown people killed by Russian soldiers during the occupation of the city of Bucha are seen in the city's cemetery on March 30, 2023
People walk through rubble and destroyed Russian military vehicles on a street in Bucha, Ukraine, April 6, 2022
In April last year, a woman was branded with a swastika, a Ukrainian MP claimed.
Lesia Vasylenko, a lawmaker from the liberal Holos party, shared a picture on Twitter of what she said was the “tortured body of a woman raped and killed.”
The horrific image showed a bare, bruised torso with a large swastika symbol burned and scratched into the skin.
“Russian soldiers loot, rape and kill…women with swastika-shaped burns.” Russia. “Russian men did this,” Ms. Vasylenko said at the time.
Russia is accused of committing several war crimes during its military campaign in Ukraine.
Images from the towns of Bucha and Irpin last year showed the bodies of hundreds of civilians left on the streets and buried in mass graves.
Amnesty International concluded that Russian forces had unlawfully killed civilians in Bucha, Andriivka, Zdvyzhivka and Vorzel.
“All those responsible for war crimes should be held criminally responsible for their actions.” “According to the doctrine of command responsibility, hierarchical superiors … who knew or should have known about the war crimes committed by their armed forces but did not try to stop them or those responsible to punish, also be held criminally responsible,” the statement said at the time.
At a meeting in London in March this year after the issuance of an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin spoke of “reckless” attacks and “atrocities” by Russian soldiers against civilians and territories.
“Russia is acting with a clear plan to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainian identity,” he said at the time.
“The deportation and transport of thousands of Ukrainian children, including from orphanages and nursing homes, to Russia.”
“Simplifying their illegal adoption process and confirming their citizenship of an aggressive state is clear evidence of this plan. This is done to break off relations with Ukraine and change its Ukrainian heritage.”
A dead civilian is seen next to his bicycle on a road near the forest in Bucha, April 2, 2022
“My office has already opened investigations into over 72,000 incidents of war crimes.
“Isolated and sporadic attacks, we see Russian foot soldiers meticulously implementing unlawful orders from the Kremlin.”
The 123 member states of the International Criminal Court are now obliged to arrest and extradite Putin if he enters their territory.