At least 375 Ukrainians have died in russian captivity — ombudsman

"We have a separate list; as of today, it contains 375 names. These are Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian hostages who were verified as prisoners of war or civilians detained by the russian Federation. They were also verified through the international verification mechanism — the International Committee of the Red Cross. And all of them returned home on shields, meaning that the russian Federation handed over to us the bodies of 375 tortured citizens of Ukraine", - Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said, Ukrinform reports.

He noted that russia has created a system in which torture, humiliation and unlawful sentences have become instruments of war.

According to Lubinets, Ukrainian prisoners of war in russia are subjected to virtually all methods of torture described in the Istanbul Protocol.

"Through the efforts of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, together with our institution, we have documented 695 forms of torture used against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian hostages, and 860 cases of improper detention conditions. Ninety-five percent of Ukrainian prisoners of war were subjected to torture, systematic torture in russian prisons", - the ombudsman emphasized.

In particular, this includes beatings, the use of electric shocks, sexual and psychological violence, attacks by dogs and mock executions.

As for russian show trials of prisoners, Lubinets reported that as of May 2026, at least 2,442 Ukrainian citizens had been verified as being subject to criminal prosecution. Of these, 1,717 have already received sentences.