OSCE sounds ‘alarm’ on Ukraine ‘filtration centres’

• OSCE report expresses concern mistreatment of thousands of Ukrainians.
• Report is based on mission of three experts covering period from April 1 to June 25.
• UK representative to OSCE describes report as a “real-life horror story”.

A report by the world’s largest security body on Thursday expressed “grave concern” about alleged mistreatment of tens of thousands of Ukrainians at so-called filtration centers set up by Russia in Ukraine.

“There are reports indicating that people are subject to harsh interrogations and humiliating body searches in such centers,” said the 115-page report, calling the setting up of such centres an “alarming” development.

It added those found to have collaborated with Kyiv “often simply disappear” with some being allegedly transferred to Russian controlled territories, where they are detained or even murdered.

The report is based on a mission of three experts under the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) covering the Ukraine war from April 1 to June 25.

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It was the second OSCE mission following a similar one covering the period from the invasion on February 24 to April 1.

The previous mission already found “clear patterns of international humanitarian law violations”.

The second mission likewise found “grave breaches of international humanitarian law”, particularly in the towns of Bucha and Irpin, which it visited.

“Signs of torture and ill-treatment on the corpses of killed civilians also show disregard of the principle of humanity,” it said.

The report said targeted killing, rape, abductions and massive deportations of civilians had been repeatedly documented during the conflict.

“The second mission is… gravely concerned by the mistreatment to which Ukrainian civilians are purportedly subject in the so-called filtration centers,” the report noted.

Tens of thousands of civilians are brought to these centers in the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine before being deported to Russia, according to Kyiv and humanitarian organizations, the report said.

There their personal data is recorded, their fingerprints taken and their IDs copied, it added.

According to Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, Ukraine’s ambassador to the OSCE, there are around 20 such facilities on the territories occupied by Russia, the report said.

UK’s representative to the OSCE, Neil Bush, told a meeting of the Vienna-based body the report is a “a real-life horror story”.

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“Due to the actions of the Russian government — a government of an OSCE participating State — this horror is an everyday reality for people across Ukraine,” he said in published remarks.

“This is an affront to humanity. It is depravity itself.”

The OSCE was founded in 1975 — at the height of the Cold War — to foster relations between the Western and Eastern blocs.

It currently has 57 member states, including NATO countries and allies of Moscow.