Wednesday 18 May 2022 10:37 AM Ukraine war: Mariupol heroes taken to Russian 'concentration camp' trends now
Fears are today mounting for the surrendered heroes of Mariupol as it is revealed they are being taken to a hell-hole 'concentration camp' on Russian-held territory.
Witnesses say at least seven bus-loads filled with Ukrainian troops taken captive after surrendering to Russian troops at the Azovstal steel works have arrived in the town of Olenvika, where they were taken to a penal colony.
The facility - named 'corrective prison colony No. 52' - was already being used to house Ukrainians deemed 'unreliable' by Russian security services, described by an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol as a '21st century concentration camp'.
Inmates including the wives of soldiers, journalists and former government workers have described being starved, tortured, and threatened with execution at the cramped camp - which was built for 850 people but now houses more than 3,000.
Interrogation sessions by Russian FSB agents can last for hours, according to a report by Ukraine's human right commissioner, with the aim of getting prisoners to sign papers admitting to 'collaboration' with the Ukrainian 'regime'.
Some of those subjected to the interrogations simply disappear amid rumours they are being sent to even worse prisons such as one at Izolyatsia, where the UN has documented cases of electroshock torture, mock executions, and sexual violence.
Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters are being evacuated from Mariupol after surrendering, with witnesses saying seven bus-loads have been taken to a Russian penal colony in Donbas
The colony (pictured) has been branded a 'concentration camp' by Ukrainian officials who say inmates are being starved, tortured and threatened with execution
959 Ukrainian troops holed up inside the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol (pictured) have now surrendered, Russia says, with more still to come out
Kyiv insists the men surrendered on the understanding they would be traded back to Ukraine as part of a prisoner swap, and say negotiations to get them back are ongoing
Kyiv says the soldiers - who held out for 82 days against a brutal Russian siege - agreed to surrender late Monday on the understanding they would be traded back to their home country in a prisoner swap.
It is thought the UN and Red Cross - which helped facilitate the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol 10 days beforehand - are working in the background to ensure the pledge is honoured.
Russia says 959 soldiers have now been taken out of the plant, including 694 over the last 24 hours.
But the news sparked almost immediate calls within Russia for any exchange to be outlawed so the soldiers can be 'brought to justice' for 'war crimes'.
Russian MPs branded the troops - who include members of the Azov Battalion which was founded by neo-Nazi groups - 'fascists' and 'lower than animals' with one even going so far as to say they should face the death penalty.
Ukraine's deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, said negotiations for the fighters' release were ongoing, branding calls for their execution 'propaganda' produced for a 'domestic audience'.
'We very much hope for a positive result,' she told the BBC.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 'the most influential international mediators are involved' in plans to rescue fighters still remaining in the plant.
He said the operation to rescue the last defenders was 'delicate' and would 'take time', without revealing how many people still need to come out.
It is unclear exactly what prompted the surrender of the Mariupol garrison, which was holed up inside the sprawling Azovstal complex and had endured weeks under heavy Russian bombardment.
Denys Prokopenko, commander of the garrison, revealed that the order to surrender came from military top brass - though did not say why it was give. He had previously vowed to fight to the death.
Russian forces have been fighting for almost three months to seize control of Mariupol against a dogged defence that has inflicted heavy casualties
Russia views many of Azovstal's defenders as neo-Nazis because of the battalion's historic links to the far right, and has called for them to face the death penalty
Buses carrying Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered at Azovstal are driven away in buses under the guard of Russian armoured vehicles
Russian troops and an attack helicopter keep watch as buses carrying evacuated Azovstal soldiers leave the port city of Mariupol
It is thought Zelensky had been telling the fighters for weeks that they should 'give up if you feel you must' and not to 'feel you must give your lives in this fight.'
But time and again his plea was rebuffed, the BBC reports, by soldiers who felt sure they would be killed or tortured if they fell into Russian
