Prisoner provides rare account of invasion of Ukraine from a Russian perspective
We met Merk on a bloodstained floor in an otherwise tidy and well-lit basement in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. He was mostly uninjured, and his eyes were covered with tape and gauze. His hands were bound. The restraints were removed by his captor upon our arrival.
The United Nations has found ill-treatment of prisoners – including executions, beatings and torture – on both sides of the war, although Ukrainian accounts coming through from Russian detention point to far more widespread and severe abuses by the Kremlin’s forces at every level.Merk was an inmate-turned-soldier, he said, having joined the Russian army’s newly formed Storm Z prisoner unit after serving two months of a 2½-year prison sentence.
“They came, the defence service. To ‘the colony.’ They said: ‘Do you want a new life? Do you want to start with a blank sheet? Come, there is enough work for everyone.’ They said: ‘There is enough work for everyone. You can build houses there.’” Buildings destroyed by months of fighting in Bakhmut, Ukraine, pictured May 19th, 2023. Photograph: Tyler Hicks/New York Times
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Irish government ‘open’ to using seized Russian assets to rebuild UkraineThe government will reserve its final position on an EU proposal until after work has been done by European Commission on legal framework
Read more »
Irish government ‘open’ to using seized Russian assets to rebuild UkraineThe government will reserve its final position on an EU proposal until after work has been done by European Commission on legal framework
Read more »
Surplus funds from liquidation of Russian leasing firms ‘highly unlikely’Liquidators appointed to Russian state-owned transport leasing companies want formal High Court recognition as having control of firms in light of sanctions
Read more »
Surplus funds from liquidation of Russian leasing firms ‘highly unlikely’Liquidators appointed to Russian state-owned transport leasing companies want formal High Court recognition as having control of firms in light of sanctions
Read more »
Surplus funds from liquidation of Russian leasing firms ‘highly unlikely’Liquidators appointed to Russian state-owned transport leasing companies want formal High Court recognition as having control of firms in light of sanctions
Read more »
Sanctions rules could deprive creditors of access to Russian lessor’s assets - court hearsLiquidators want court to declare they, rather than Russian parent, have control of the companies and their assets
Read more »