Since Russia’s attack on Ukrainian ships and capture of 24 sailors on Nov. 25, Ukraine has been trying to receive international recognition for the captives being prisoners of war. The PACE resolution 2259 (2019) adopted on Jan. 24 did not explicitly say the sailors are POWs. But by calling upon Russia to treat them in accordance to provisions of international humanitarian law such as the Geneva conventions it indirectly gave them this status, as the Geneva Conventions established humane rules of war. Particularly, the third Geneva Convention of 1949 established the basic rights of wartime prisoners. Euromaidan Press talked to lawyer Nikolai Polozov, who is leading the efforts to free the 24 Ukrainian captives, about the meaning of the PACE resolution and the strategy of their legal defense.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
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General view of the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Jan. 26, 2011.
