The forcible transfer of about 1,700 prisoners from jails in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to prisons inside Russia likely constitutes war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity, according to a report by the Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY) and Ukrainian partner organisations.
Published in May 2026 under the title “Deportation to Hell,” the report draws on testimony from 233 former and current prisoners who were deprived of their liberty in Ukraine when Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. The transfers took place in November 2022.
A pattern, not isolated incidents
The testimonies describe large numbers of prisoners moved from occupied territory to the Crimean peninsula and on to Russia without explanation, without consent and without access to legal assistance. Transfers were carried out at gunpoint in overcrowded vehicles with inadequate access to food, water and toilets. The report’s authors conclude the movements were unlawful under international humanitarian law because no legitimate grounds of military necessity or civilian safety applied.
Ninety-five percent of those interviewed said they suffered or witnessed ill-treatment, and in some cases torture, during the deportation and subsequent imprisonment in Russia. Accounts include beatings with batons, kicks, prolonged stress positions, humiliation and threats of physical or sexual violence. The report links the abuse to detainees’ Ukrainian nationality or their presumed support for Ukraine, and records that many were pressed into accepting Russian citizenship — raising concerns about coercion and the erosion of their legal status as Ukrainian nationals.
Release often did not end the ordeal. Some former prisoners were held in Russian migration centres on the grounds that they had entered the country illegally, even though they had been deported there by force. Others were expelled to third countries, frequently without documents or the means to return home, while some were moved to detention facilities in Crimea where the mistreatment continued. Every person interviewed said they were denied contact with their families after being deported, and Russian authorities informed neither the Ukrainian government nor the prisoners’ relatives of the transfers.
The legal case
The report’s legal analysis finds breaches of international humanitarian law and concludes the deportations likely qualify as war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. They may also constitute crimes against humanity if shown to have been committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, with knowledge of that attack.
Therese Rytter, the institute’s legal director, said the allegations are serious enough to warrant legal proceedings, and that the interviews with victims and witnesses could assist national and international police and prosecutors investigating those responsible at every level. The report was produced with Protection of Prisoners of Ukraine, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group and the European Prison Litigation Network, with support from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This report was produced by the HuMedia newsroom.
