Why Britain Accused Russia of Abducting Innocent Civilians – British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss accused Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday of using “abhorrent” tactics in the war in Ukraine, including the abduction of innocent civilians.
“He is not achieving his objectives and is resorting to desperate measures,” Truss said.
The British government official made the comments in response to a post by the ZMINA Human Rights Centre Twitter account, which claimed that dozens of Ukrainian civilians have been abducted and thousands of others deported to Russia.
“The Taken”
ZMINA, a human rights organization based in Kyiv, launched a campaign titled “The Taken,” which aims to “tell the world what is happening, to shine a spotlight on those who have been taken, and let Russia know that the world is watching.”
The organization claims that it has identified more than 30 Ukrainian civilians who have been abducted by Russian soldiers. Those who were abducted have not communicated with their families since they disappeared and their whereabouts are unknown.
Among the alleged abductees are journalists, elected officials, council workers, and aid workers – and the number of people being abducted, the organization says, is growing by the day.
“Russia is detaining and disappearing civilians in an attempt to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people,” Tetiana Pechonchuk, the head of ZMINA wrote, adding that 39 cases of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia have been documented so far.
On Monday, ZMINA held a Day of Action, whereby celebrities and political leaders published the names and faces of those who are believed to have been abducted.
American Pastor Kidnapped
Last week, an American pastor was reportedly kidnapped from the city of Melitopol after Russian troops took control of the city.
Helen Bodyu, the wife of pastor Dmitry Bodyu, told NBC News that she and other members of her family watched as Russian soldiers grabbed her 50-year-old husband and led him to an unknown location. The troops reportedly knew that Bodyu was a pastor. He has not been seen since.
“They just came in in the morning,” Helen Bodyu told NBC. “They took our phones, gadgets, computers, documents, and took him somewhere. I don’t know where.”
Ukrainian officials believe that as many as 400,000 civilians have been taken against their will and transported to Russian territories.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
