At least five Ukrainian prisons have been attacked by Russian forces since the beginning of the Vladimir Putin-ordered invasion nearly a month ago, Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice said Tuesday.
Prisons in the badly battered coastal city of Mariupol, as well as lockups in Berdiansk, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv, have been hit. There are 33 prisons located in active conflict zones in Ukraine that have endured heavy shelling as Russian forces continue the near-constant attack on their Eastern European neighbor.
While there is no word on exactly how many people were being held in the prisons, there are 48,000 people in the Ukrainian system nationwide.
The ministry shared pictures of what it said were damaged prisons in the Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions.
Two days before the Feb. 24 invasion, Vadym Pyvovarov, the executive director of the Association of Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law Enforcement, penned his concerns in a blog post.
RUSSIAN MILITARY ‘INTENTIONALLY TARGETED CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE,’ PENTAGON SAYS
“As Ukraine faces a renewed military aggression by the Russian Federation, it is important to ensure safety for the most vulnerable groups among its civilian population,” he wrote. “One such group is made of the people who find themselves under the control of State authorities and who cannot leave the place of their stay without a court of administrative decision, or specific arrangements: children in dedicated institutions or psychiatric hospitals, but also prisoners in various types of law enforcement institutions.”
He added that should armed conflict escalate, they “would not have any chance to promptly depart for a safe zone if left to their own devices.”
Pyvovarov said he believed there were not enough protocols in place to protect those being held behind bars and the staff tasked with guarding them.
He also warned that history might repeat itself.
When fighting broke out in the Donetsk region in 2014-2015, the prison personnel in the Chornukhinska Correctional Service Column No. 23 escaped without warning the 700 detainees about the impending danger.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“All 700 convicts in the penal colony were just left behind, including those with tuberculosis and those who were HIV-positive, and who required medical treatment,” he said.
