Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
A stark contrast to how Ukrainian POW’s are treated by Russia.
According to the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, Prisoners of War (POW’s) must be protected against violence, intimidation, insults and treated humanely at all times.
But if the reports from former Ukrainian POW’s now released from Russian captivity, either the conventions has not been translated into Russian, or the Russian’s simply don’t care.
As late as Dec 10 2025, United24Media published a feature article about witness accounts of what former Ukrainian POW’s have told The Memorial Human Rights Defence Centre.
And the 40 former POW’s tell of harrowing conditions and treatments, including three meals a day only consisting of tea and a loaf of bread, drinking water supplied by fire trucks, beatings and breaking of fingers under interrogations, electro chock and even bathtubs with ice to revive those who have fainted.
The complete opposite
Ukraine has also been accussed of violating the convention, especially the part about keeping POW’s away from public curiosity, as Ukraine rutinely publish recordings of foreign fighters explaining how they have been tricked into fighting for Russia.
But in all the horror and despair, sometimes a spark of light shines bright through the seemingly endless darkness.
A video now circulating on social media shows what is allegedly an American volunteer fighting for Ukraine sharing his cigarettes with newly captured Russian POW’s.
War is a horrible place, and it can be difficult to even spot a tiny sliver of humanity when looking at recordings from the battlefield as well as reading eye witness accounts.
So even though, we do not get our hopes up for a near end to the fighting, we do feel a bit of hope when seeing something like this.
Note: It is concidered a violation of the Geneva Convention to show unblurred faces of POW’s. In the video in question, the prisoners faces have not been blurred, which is why we do not show it here. Instead, you can find the video on United24Media’s Instagram profile here (opens new tab).
Sources: Doctors Without Borders, Instagram, United24Media
