In August alone, five prisoners are known to have died in prisons under the control of Russian-backed militants in Luhansk. Two of the men are believed to have committed suicide, while a source known to the Kharkiv Human Rights Group reports that two other men found in the sewage system had marks suggesting that they had been subjected to physical violence. Two of the men who died were due to be released this year.
Ukraine’s Human Rights Ombudsperson Ludmila Denisova has asked the International Red Cross to investigate these deaths, and points out that she has received information from both prisoners and from their relatives about the appalling conditions and lack of medical care in such prisons.
