Q&A: New report documents forcible transfer of Ukrainian prisoners to Russia. DIGNITY’s legal experts explain the findings

DIGNITY and our Ukrainian partners – Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group and Protection of Prisoners of Ukraine have just published the report Deportation to Hell. What does the report reveal? 

»The report documents that approximately 1,700 Ukrainian prisoners were deported by Russian occupying forces to prisons inside the Russian Federation in November 2022, following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. These individuals had been serving custodial sentences in Ukrainian penitentiary facilities that fell under Russian control after February 2022. Based on testimonies from 233 current or former prisoners, the report traces the full arc of this deportation process from initial forced transfers through transit centres in occupied Crimea, to prolonged detention in penitentiary facilities inside Russian territory. The deportations were carried out under conditions that fell far short of international standards«.  

How?  

»Prisoners were transported at gunpoint in overcrowded vehicles for up to 12 hours, sometimes alongside individuals with tuberculosis, and without adequate food, water, or sanitation. They were required to abandon personal belongings, including medication, prior to transfer. The report concludes that these transfers lacked any legal justification under international humanitarian law, as there were no grounds of military necessity or population security that could warrant the removal of protected persons from occupied territory«. 

»The report further identifies a consistent pattern of physical and psychological ill-treatment throughout the deportation and subsequent detention. 95% of interviewees reported experiencing or witnessing abuse, including beatings, prolonged stress positions, and threats of violence — frequently directed at prisoners because of their Ukrainian nationality or perceived support for Ukraine. Additionally, many prisoners were pressured to accept Russian citizenship during their detention, raising serious concerns about coercion and the erosion of their legal status as Ukrainian nationals. The report also documents serious violations during detention in the Russian Federation, including arbitrary detention, forced labour, and the systematic denial of contact with their families«. 

One of the report’s conclusions is that the deportations likely constitute the war crime of unlawful deportation. How did the report reach that conclusion? 

»The deportations of Ukrainian prisoners, culminating in November 2022, took place in the context of an international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as a situation of occupation by Russia of parts of Ukrainian territory. In such circumstances, international humanitarian law (IHL) governs the conduct of the parties involved. IHL establishes clear protections for civilians, including prohibitions on unlawful transfer, deportation, and inhumane treatment. While IHL permits evacuation in limited circumstances – for the security of the population or imperative military reasons – such measures must be strictly necessary, temporary, and conducted under humane conditions«. 

»As set out in the report, those deported were civilians serving custodial sentences in Ukraine at the time of the Russian Federation’s invasion on 24 February 2022 and the ensuing occupation. They were therefore entitled as civilians to protections under IHL. The deportations at issue satisfy none of the criteria permitting lawful evacuation. Ukrainian prisoners were forcibly transferred by Russian occupying forces and authorities to the Russian Federation, with the assistance of Ukrainian prison staff who agreed to remain and work under Russian occupation. The transfers do not appear to have been undertaken for legitimate evacuation purposes. They were further not intended to be temporary as evidenced by the repeated offers of, and in many cases pressure, to accept Russian citizenship«.  

»Even if framed as evacuations, the deportations were carried out in grossly inhumane conditions«.  

What conditions were prisoners subjected to during the deportations? 

»Prisoners were forced to abandon personal belongings, including vital medication, and were transported in overcrowded vehicles, sometimes alongside prisoners with tuberculosis, without sufficient food, water, sanitation, ventilation or medical care. Moreover, ill-treatment, and in several instances torture, was pervasive at every stage of the deportation process. It included beatings, prolonged periods in stress positions, intimidation, humiliation, and threats of physical or sexual violence, often on account of prisoners’ nationality and their actual or assumed support for Ukraine«. 

»Likewise, the return of Ukrainian prisoners grossly failed to meet the standards required under international humanitarian law. Upon release, many were abandoned on Russian territory or expelled to third countries – oftentimes without documents or means to return home. Others were immediately arrested for alleged illegally entering Russia, despite having been forcibly brought there, and detained in migration centres. Others still were transferred to prisons in Russian-occupied Crimea, where they faced further ill-treatment and inhumane conditions. In all cases, their release exposed them to additional hardship, uncertainty, and mistreatment – reflecting a continued disregard for their rights as protected persons under international humanitarian law«. 

»Accordingly, this conduct constitutes grave breaches of international humanitarian law and likely amounts to war crimes, giving rise to individual criminal responsibility under international law, as reflected in the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.« 

Why could it also be a crime against humanity?  

»The same conduct may also qualify as a crime against humanity under International criminal law. Unlike war crimes, which are tied to the existence of an armed conflict, crimes against humanity focus on the scale and organised nature of the conduct. Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, crimes against humanity include deportation or forcible transfer of population, torture, persecution, and other inhumane acts, but only when carried out as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population, pursuant to a state or organisational policy«. 

»The deportations and pervasive ill-treatment documented in this report may meet this threshold. The widespread nature of the conduct is reflected in the large number of Ukrainian prisoners affected and their transfer across multiple locations before ultimate deportation to the Russian Federation. The systematic nature is indicated by the structured and coordinated manner in which Russian occupying forces and authorities carried out these operations, with ill-treatment recurring consistently at each stage. Taken together, these features point to an organised pattern of conduct rather than isolated incidents«. 

»This pattern does not appear to have been accidental. As documented by UN bodies and non-governmental organisations, the deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian civilians – including children – has been a recurring practice in territories under Russian occupation, linked to efforts to consolidate control over Ukrainian territory and the civilian population. Under international criminal law, a state or organisational policy need not be formally declared; it can be inferred from a consistent and repeated pattern of conduct. The scale, geographic spread, coordinated procedures, and recurring ill-treatment documented in this report support such an inference, and may satisfy the requirements for crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 

What has happened to the deported prisoners since their release?  

After their release from prisons in the Russian Federation and/or Occupied Crimea, some of the former prisoners returned to Ukraine via the third countries (for instance, Georgia, Turkey, Moldova) with the assistance of volunteers, civil society members, and relatives. In some cases, Russian prison authorities provided them with small amount of money, in average, from 800 to 5000 Russian rubbles (approximately 10-50 Euro), however, this amount was not sufficient to get to Ukraine. In many cases, released prisoners lacked identification documents. 64 people, after release from Russian prisons, were immediately apprehended by the Russian police, took to courts where they were sentenced for illegal crossing of the Russian border, and placed into centres for illegal migrants where they were detained for the period from several weeks to several months, after which they were expelled from the Russian Federation to Georgia.   

How did DIGNITY work with Ukrainian partners to document the deportations in this report, and how does this cooperation support documentation of violations more broadly? 

»For this report, DIGNITY’s Ukrainian partners conducted interviews with direct victims of deportation using a methodology developed by DIGNITY and a survivor-centred, trauma-informed approach, which involved participation of a psychologist in witness interviews and referral for external psychological assistance if needed. DIGNITY and its Ukrainian partners also reviewed documentary evidence, including Russian court decisions, reports by international organisations and media reports. More broadly, DIGNITY provides methodological support to its Ukrainian partners through capacity-building activities, including training, workshops, peer review of witness statements, the development of guidelines and questionnaires, and the establishment of databases for storing collected evidence. Through the project, partners can also refer victims and witnesses to professional psychological support when needed«. 

How can this report contribute to accountability?  

»This report contributes to accountability in several ways. It documents the deportations, detention conditions, and patterns of ill-treatment suffered by Ukrainian prisoners. It links these facts to relevant standards under international criminal law – helping support their qualification as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. As the report is based largely on interviews with victims and witnesses, it may also assist national or international investigative and prosecutorial bodies in identifying victims and witnesses and supporting further investigation aimed at establishing individual criminal responsibility for these crimes«. 

What action does the report call for from Russia, Ukraine and the International Criminal Court?  

»The report calls on the Russian Federation to immediately end the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian prisoners, cease torture and ill-treatment, stop coercive practices such as forced citizenship, and ensure the safe and dignified return of all Ukrainian prisoners to Ukraine, while also conducting effective investigations into alleged international crimes and ensuring accountability«.  

»Ukraine is urged to facilitate the return and reintegration of prisoners, provide comprehensive legal, medical, psychological, and social support, ensure access to justice, properly account for time spent in detention in Russia, and release those who have already served their sentences«.  

»The ICC is already investigating the deportation of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation. It is called upon to extend its investigations to the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian prisoners, as part of the broader pattern of forced transfers and deportations of Ukrainian civilians documented under Russian occupation«. 

What impact does DIGNITY hope the report will have?  

»DIGNITY hopes the report will strengthen accountability efforts by increasing recognition of the experiences of Ukrainian prisoners, a group of civilians often overlooked, subjected to deportation, detention, and ill-treatment. It aims to reinforce respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, particularly the protections owed to civilians during occupation and armed conflict, and to support efforts to prevent the recurrence of similar violations«.  

»The report also seeks to raise awareness of Ukrainian prisoners still held in the Russian Federation and to contribute to efforts to secure their safe return. In addition, it highlights and supports the work of DIGNITY’s partner, Protection of Prisoners of Ukraine, a civilian organisation which operates under difficult conditions to document prisoners’ experiences and bring them to the attention of the public and relevant legal authorities«. 

Read Deportation to Hell: Forcible Transfer of Ukrainian Prisoners to Russia   

The report ‘Deportation to Hell’ was prepared by DIGNITY in cooperation with the Ukrainian civil society organisations Protection of Prisoners of Ukraine and Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.