US Researcher Says Russia Operates 21 Detention And Interrogation Sites For Soldiers And Civilians

Russian soldiers carry surrendered Ukrainian troops in Azovstal, Mariupol. (Twitter/@StateOfUkraine)

JAKARTA - Russian troops and their proxies in Ukraine operate 21 locations on the battlefield to detain and interrogate troops and civilians, a report said on Thursday.

The report, published by Yale University researchers with the support of the State Department, used satellite imagery and open source data collection, to identify the location.

They include schools in the villages of Bezimenne and Kozatske, urban centers in Manhush and Nikolske, and prisons in Makiivka and Olenivka.

The Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Laboratory responsible for the report is a partner in the State Department-funded Conflict Observatory program.

It was launched this year to analyze evidence of war crimes believed to be committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

"We once again call on Russia to immediately cease screening and forced deportation operations, and to grant independent outside observers access to identified facilities and forced deportation relocation areas within Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine and within Russia", said the State Department, launching The National News on August 26.

Surrender of Ukrainian troops at Azovstal. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru)

The large-scale system, the researchers say, puts civilians through a registration and interrogation process before releasing them, detaining them, or sending them to Russia.

The report mainly focuses on the Donetsk region and the Volnovakha Correctional Colony, the prison complex near Olenivka where more than 50 prisoners of war are thought to have died in an explosion there in July.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the time denounced the attack as "the deliberate mass killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war".

The report said the Volnovakha Correctional Colony near Olenivka was a long-term detention center for captured soldiers after Moscow forces took control of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

Prison conditions include inhumane treatment of prisoners of war and violations of human rights law, the researchers said.

Lower resolution imagery on Planet indicates the ground disturbance (seen at bottom of this video) occurred after July 18th and prior to July 21st at Olenivka Prison: https://t.co/bmZEr4T1nk pic.twitter.com/pqqmq8oAiQ

— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) July 31, 2022

"Reports include claims of overcrowded cells, insufficient space to lie down, little or no access to water and hygienic facilities, insufficient and irregular nutrition, beatings and torture", the report said.

The researchers identified two distinct markings along the southern and southwestern parts of the Volnovakha Penitentiary Colony, which could include mass graves.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said the US estimated between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian civilians had been detained or forcibly deported.

"President (Vladimir) Putin and his government will not be able to engage in these persistent violations without punishment", the State Department said.

"Accountability is paramount, and the United States and our partners will not stand still", he stressed.

Russia has denied intentionally attacking or detaining civilians since the February 24 invasion, which it calls a special military operation.