“Oh my god, he can’t be over 18, can he?” whispered one of the journalists in the room.
His two comrades took their places next to him. One wore slippers over socks. The other was wearing a collared shirt. Each gave his name, date of birth, place of birth and his Russian military unit. They gave repentance – one said that he was ashamed to look into the eyes of the Ukrainians.
The story continues under the ad
Then their captors opened the floor for questions from journalists.
Press conferences by Ukrainian prisoners of war have become an unconventional and ethically—and potentially legally—questionable attribute of her war with Russia, typifying the two countries’ battle for information. While Moscow forbids even using the words “war” or “invasion” — Russian state media calls it a “special operation” and won’t admit its military has been shelling civilian areas — Ukraine is marching around captured Russian soldiers to confront the Kremlin. propaganda with their own.
At a press conference on Wednesday at the Odessa headquarters of the SBU, Ukraine’s main intelligence service, three men who were presented as captured Russian soldiers told similar stories. It was not clear if their comments were coerced or scripted. They spoke without any written statements. One stared at the table as he spoke, while the other two looked more at ease. None of the men had visible bruises or signs of beatings or abuse.
The gist of what they said was in line with similar press conferences now taking place across the country in the two weeks since the start of the Russian invasion. All of them said they did not agree with the Russian war, regretted their participation in it and did not know that they would enter Ukraine until they received the order on February 23 – a few hours before the first Russian missile strikes.
The story continues under the ad
The first question set the tone: “Not only Ukraine, but the whole world sees that your army is clearly killing civilians, and this is confirmed by your comrades who surrendered to our army in batches. … What were your orders to kill civilians?” – asked the correspondent of the Ukrainian TV channel.
Press conferences have become an effective tool for generating international attention, with one video that went viral on social media getting more than 100,000 retweets and 200,000 likes on Twitter. But international organizations and observers have said they could violate the Geneva Conventions, which have extensive rules regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.
Article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention states that “prisoners of war must always be treated humanely.” The article specifically prohibits acts resulting in the death or “serious threat” to the health of a prisoner. It states that no prisoner of war should be subjected to physical mutilation, medical or scientific experimentation, and adds: “Prisoners of war must be protected at all times, especially against acts of violence or intimidation, as well as insults and public curiosity.”
The story continues under the ad
This is a topic that Ukrainian officials raised at the start of Wednesday’s press conference. Reading out the statement, Yuri Dobrov, head of the legal department of the Ministry of Defense in the Odessa region, said that Ukraine “strictly adheres to the norms and rules of the Geneva Convention.”
Dobrov said that there are “a fairly large number of detainees” in Ukraine now, so a prisoner of war camp is being created. He did not give any details about the size or location of the camp.
Organized press conferences follow a trend that was born out of massive civic efforts. After the invasion began, unconfirmed videos of interrogations of captured Russian soldiers were posted on social media by ordinary citizens, who were sometimes the same people who asked the questions. This prompted Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich to call for “humane treatment of prisoners” in an online video. He reminded the audience that Ukraine is closely watched by Western partners.
But on Telegram, Twitter and YouTube, Ukraine’s interior ministry has also posted bloody videos and photos purporting to show the corpses of Russian soldiers – another potential violation of the Geneva Conventions.
The story continues under the ad
Some observers have welcomed the videos and media briefings, arguing that the POWs appear sincere or that such evidence is needed to break through the wall of Russian media censorship.
Russia, in a rare release of military deaths data, said on March 2 that 498 of its soldiers had died. But on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Scott D. Berrier, director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, told House lawmakers that the best estimate is between 2,000 and 4,000 Russians have died. Ukrainian officials say the number is much higher.
“Terrible and disgusting things happen in any war,” said Konstantin Batozsky, a Ukrainian political scientist. “We must fight Russian lies. The world must force Russia to admit that they have military losses.”
Charles Dunlap, a retired Air Force major general and executive director of the Center for Law, Ethics, and Homeland Security at Duke Law School, said in a Feb. 27 blog post that Article 3 “does not by itself prohibit the publication of photographs.” or a video of prisoners of war. Sometimes the photos or videos are “insults or public curiosity,” he wrote, but not always. Instead, the “intent” behind a given video or photo release should be assessed.
The story continues under the ad
“Still, the bottom line is that prisoners of war should not be a tool of propaganda,” Dunlap wrote.
Andrew Streulein, European Media Director at Human Rights Watch, tweeted that “While some of the videos may make it look like POWs are free to say whatever they want, they are being held captive by another military force and it’s almost impossible to judge from one.” video of the conditions they face.”
Gregory S. Gordon, a specialist in international criminal law, said that measures to protect prisoners of war have changed as the nature of wars has changed.
The period after World War II, when the Third Geneva Convention was revised, was “a time when prisoners of war could be taken out to the public and paraded, ridiculed, insulted, harassed,” he said. “The idea was that the detaining authority could do it for propaganda purposes – or as a way to let the public vent their frustration on the enemy.”
The story continues under the ad
The international protection of prisoners of war was supposed to put an end to this kind of abuse.
Gordon said that Ukraine may have a strategic interest in “strictly observing the laws of war – occupying high positions.” He said it was in the interests of both sides to treat captured soldiers the way they would like their own prisoners of war to be treated.
Asked if they knew what would happen to them after the press conference, the Russian soldiers said they expected they would eventually be sent back to their country as part of a prisoner exchange. But even the appearance of prisoners of war at a press conference could put them at risk, Gordon said.
According to him, if a prisoner of war criticizes his own government, even if these comments were made under duress, “the regime at home can still see it as helping the enemy.”
Westfall reported from Hyannis, Massachusetts.