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The damage done by the Russian war was not lost on Vitaliy.
“But we do our jobs because of our duties and responsibilities,” he said, referring to the Hippocratic oath that medical professionals take. “And, of course, after recovery, we can change it. So, I say that this can help the Ukrainian soldiers to return.
Russia and Ukraine have captured prisoners of war since Putin’s invasion began 12 days ago. The Ukrainian side has captured at least 245 Russian soldiers, according to a website affiliated with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Kyiv has also sent out an open call for mothers of captured Russian soldiers to pick them up and bring them home. According to the Facebook page of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Russian prisoner of war will be released to his mother if the woman goes to Kyiv to meet her son.
“We, the Ukrainian people, unlike Putin’s fascists, are not at war with the mothers and their children who were captured,” the ministry said.
But Ukraine has also published some ghastly videos taken by Russian forces, which experts in international humanitarian law say may violate the Geneva Convention.
In one video, a Russian soldier with tape wrapped around his head to cover his eyes was forced to call his parents to tell them he had been captured. “No one knows anything. They just ordered us to attack Ukraine,” he said.
Another video shows two seriously wounded Russian soldiers being interrogated in the bed of a moving pickup truck. Another showed Russian forces calling the family and forcing them to confess.
“Prisoners of war and detained civilians must be treated with dignity and absolutely protected from persecution and exposure to public curiosity, including images widely circulated on social media,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a March 4 statement.
Anton Gerashchenko, an official with Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, told BuzzFeed News that the video of the Russian detainees could be justified due to the extraordinary circumstances.
“We have a people’s war. People are filming invaders killing Ukrainians and uploading them to social media. This is their right,” he said. “Let the Red Cross mind its own business, help with humanitarian aid and evacuation corridors in besieged cities.”
Ukraine’s defense intelligence office said the Russian soldiers were treated under the Geneva Conventions. “In particular, they are provided with food, clothing, and medical care, and remain in normal conditions,” he said.
Most of the civilian casualties recorded since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, the UN human rights office said, “were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including fire from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and missiles and airstrikes.”
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