On June 24, 2024, at a morgue in Kyiv, Ukraine, forensic pathologists conducted autopsies on the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war returned from Russia.

    On June 24, 2024, forensic experts conducted autopsies on the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war returned from Russia at a morgue in Kyiv, Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian government, at least 206 of the more than 5,000 prisoners of war returned by Russia to Ukraine died while in captivity. Prosecutors stated that an additional 245 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed by Russian soldiers on the battlefield. Ukrainian authorities plan to file a complaint with the International Criminal Court accusing Russia of war crimes for the abuse of captured soldiers, based on evidence gathered from testimonies of former prisoners and autopsies of returned bodies.

  Human rights groups, the United Nations, Ukrainian government officials, and Ukrainian forensic pathologists handling the remains indicate Russia systematically subjected captured Ukrainian soldiers to brutal treatment, with abuse in Russian prisons likely contributing to many deaths. Russian authorities did not respond to requests for comment. The UN has described the situation as severe.

  Ukrainian authorities state that the frequent return of dismembered and decomposed bodies is a Russian measure to conceal allegations of torture, starvation, and poor health care in dozens of prisons and detention centers across Russia and occupied Ukraine. A 2024 UN report found that 95% of released Ukrainian prisoners of war had endured systematic torture and abuse. Prisoners reported beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, sexual violence, prolonged stress positions, mock executions, and sleep deprivation.

Warning: Forensic workers at a morgue in Kyiv, Ukraine, examine the body of a Ukrainian prisoner of war returned by Russia, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)