The Security Service of Ukraine receives testimony from people released from captivity that the enemy has special cells where prisoners who are being prepared for exchange are deliberately “fattened up” to create a “picture” of compliance with the rules for the treatment of prisoners of war. This was stated at a press conference at Ukrinform by Andrii Pasternak, head of the Joint Center for the Coordination of the Search for and Release of Prisoners of War Illegally Deprived of Their Liberty as a Result of Aggression Against Ukraine, under the Security Service of Ukraine.
“Everyone involved in the exchange negotiations knows that the enemy, knowing whom it will hand over, including civilians, brings these prisoners (editor’s note) into normal condition through the so-called fattening process”, - Pasternak noted.
According to him, this information comes from Ukrainian defenders and civilians who have been released from captivity. “This is also one of the elements of torture — abuse, when some are deliberately not fed, while others are fattened up so that they look more or less normal”, - the SBU representative noted.
He added that at all meetings, the negotiating team emphasizes to the enemy that the Ukrainian prisoners whom Ukraine receives and the russian prisoners of war whom Ukraine hands over are substantially different.
“Our people are all very, very thin. Only a few are in more or less normal physical condition. Their prisoners of war whom we hand over for exchange are all genuinely well-fed”.
According to Pasternak, there is a specific feeding schedule, while international organizations, in particular the ICRC and the UN, regularly inspect detention facilities and monitor Ukraine’s compliance with international humanitarian law.