11:12 p.m. ET, April 5, 2022
Female soldiers released from Russian captivity "subjected to torture," Ukrainian official says
From CNN's Abby Baggini and Kostan Nechyporenko in Vasylkiv, Ukraine
More than a dozen female Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russian forces were "subjected to torture and ill-treatment in captivity," according to a Ukrainian human rights official.
The 15 women were among 86 soldiers released from Russian captivity on Friday.
Following their capture by Russian forces, the women were taken to Belarus and then to a pre-trial detention center in Bryansk, Russia, where they "were tortured and threatened," Lyudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, said on her official Telegram page.
Stripped naked: According to Denisova, female prisoners were stripped naked in the presence of men, forced to squat, cut their hair, and interrogated in an effort to break their morale. Some of the women were also forced to take part in the filming of Russian propaganda videos.
Article 13: Denisova said Russia's actions amount to a violation of Article 13 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Article 13 states that "prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated."
"I call on the UN Commission for Investigation Human Rights Violations of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine and the expert mission set up by OSCE participating states under the Moscow Mechanism to consider these violations of the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war," said Denisova.
Denisova previously said on Monday that Ukrainian prisoners of war had been subject to beatings, starvation, frostbite, and intimidation while in Russian captivity.
Following negotiations last week, Ukraine and Russia's exchange of 86 prisoners from each side marked the conflict's largest prisoner swap to date.