Report: Russian Government Approved Systematic Torture Against Ukrainian Prisoners of War
Russian officials encouraged cruelty and “no restrictions against violence” on Ukrainian prisoners of war just weeks after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
https://twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1888952103801925662
‘Be cruel’: The Journal cites former prison officials and prisoners who recount how Igor Potapenko, head of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service for Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region, ordered guards to “be cruel” to Ukrainian prisoners.
- This order from the Russian government to “[not] pity them” came in March 2022, just weeks into the full-scale invasion.
- The report details new policies that were implemented to allow this systematic cruelty, including removing body cameras and lifting official restrictions on the use of violence.
- Those officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal are now reportedly in witness protection after giving testimony to International Criminal Court investigators.
Inhumane: International humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, requires that prisoners of war be treated humanely and not subjected to violence or intimidation. Russia has repeatedly violated international humanitarian law and has exhibited no intention of changing direction.
Witnesses describe scenes of horrific violence, including prison guards beating Ukrainians until their batons broke, the use of electric shockers, and amputations.
Prophesied: We’ve witnessed nearly three years of state-sanctioned brutality in the Russo-Ukrainian War. The violence will only grow worse as Putin’s ruthlessness intensifies.
Putin “is not just an authoritarian leader,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in the cover story for the March 2017 Trumpet issue. He continued:
This is a man with beastly power and with a beastly desire to rule the world! He is a vengeful, monstrous friend of the devil with all sorts of anti-God policies. He is steeped in secrecy, deception, manipulation, aggression, intimidation, coercion and force, and there is far more about him that we do not know.
To understand more about Putin’s “anti-God policies,” order your free copy of the The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’