#russian-war-crimes

#russian-war-crimes

Cynicism is a weapon of war, and Russia is a sharpshooter. Its president, Vladimir Putin, is considering withdrawing from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture (ECPT), to which it has been a party since 1998. A political mockery that deepens the open wound of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians in Russian prisons, victims of terrible abuse. Maksim Butkevich, 48, is one of them.

The scene: A pine forest near Izium, a city on the Donets River in eastern Ukraine. There are empty graves all around. This is where Russian soldiers buried the hundreds of civilians they killed in the spring of 2022. The graves are empty because the bodies in them have been exhumed for examination. Some of the people buried here were horribly tortured.

"There are two waves of attacks, and the second arrived as emergency workers were taking care of the victims," said Merz.