Russian agencies report that the IAEA team has arrived at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

Russian forces have been forcibly moving Ukrainian citizens to areas under their control since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). In a statement released Thursday.

Forced Transfers “A serious violation of the laws of war as a war crime and a possible crime against humanity”HRW said.

The organization interviewed fifty-four people who visited Russia. Some of them also helped Ukrainians trying to leave Russian territory.

Many of the forcibly displaced fled the port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine, which had come under devastating siege and heavy shelling before being captured by Russian troops. Others are from the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine.

“Of course we would have taken the opportunity if we could have gone to UkraineA woman transferred from Mariupol told HRW. But we have no choice, no way to go [dans les territoires contrôlés par Kiev] »Did she say

“Ukrainian citizens have no choice but to go to Russia”Belkis Ville, a Human Rights Watch researcher and co-author of the report, said.

On their way, many of these citizens were subjected to a mandatory security check called “screening,” which included biometrics and fingerprints, body searches and searches of their personal belongings, the report said.

“No one should be forced to submit to a flawed screening process [se mettre en] security”Mr. Ville argued.

A resident of Mariupol told HRW that he was detained by Russian troops for two weeks, along with dozens of other residents of the city, in a school in unsanitary conditions, before being “filtered”. “We felt like hostages.”He told HRW.