The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has had no access since 2024 to Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia.
This was reported by an ICRC spokesperson, Reuters writes.
"We can confirm the lack of access to prisoners of war in Russia since 2024," he said.
Read alsoDmytro Lubinets: "There are more than 20,000 civilian Ukrainian hostages in the Russian Federation"
Thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of war are being held in Russian places of detention. UN investigators have gathered evidence of systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war in such facilities. Russia denies allegations of torture and other forms of ill-treatment of prisoners.
"If you want to stand up for humanity, you have to talk about detention and what is happening in prisons," said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric.
The 1949 Geneva Conventions stipulate that the ICRC must be able to visit prisoners of war, check the conditions of their detention and their treatment, as well as access to food and medical care.
At the same time, Russia has for a long time restricted ICRC representatives' access to Ukrainian prisoners of war. According to data cited in February 2025, there were more than 180 penal colonies in the Russian Federation where Ukrainians were held, but the organisation's representatives were able to enter only some of them.
- The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets has also said that, because of the lack of ICRC access, it is harder to confirm that Ukrainians are being held in Russian captivity.