Russia is responsible for "widespread and systematic violations" of international law in the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war including "arbitrary killings", according to an OSCE report published Thursday.
The violations also include "torture, ill-treatment, denial of fair trial rights, and unsafe detention and transfer conditions," said the report by the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The report is the result of a mission of three experts tasked by the OSCE to look into Russia's treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
They found that Ukrainian soldiers were not recognised as prisoners of war by Russia, which "opens the door for criminal prosecution of POWs for mere participation in hostilities".
"The mission documented a high number of arbitrary killings and executions attributable to the Russian Federation, occurring both on the battlefield and in detention," the report said.
Estimates indicate that at least 13,500 members of the Ukrainian armed forces have been detained since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it added.
"Of these, approximately 169 have died in captivity, nearly 6,800 have been released and repatriated, and an estimated 6,300 remain in detention," the report said, denouncing Russia's lack of cooperation in the investigation.
Forty-one of the 57 OSCE member states asked the organisation in July to look into Russia's treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
For the report, the experts conducted, among others, interviews with former prisoners of war and had access to written testimonies.
The report said a "particularly egregious case" was the Olenivka penal colony in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, where "systemic violations occurred".
The experts "would encourage the ICC (International Criminal Court) Office of the Prosecutor to pursue investigations into these violations," the report said, given "the extensive documentation of violations against POWs".
The OSCE has published several reports since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, within the framework of the so-called Moscow Mechanism, highlighting violations that might constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
