Russian POW Interviews and International Accountability: Legal and Evidentiary Considerations
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Diplomatic Legal Hub
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/06/01
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Independent Journalist & Coordinator, Diplomatic Legal Hub
The four following abstracts provide a series of considerations regarding the premise of interviews with Russian prisoners of war (POWs) in a systematic, legally compliant manner, in which the rights and dignity of POWs during active war are upheld. Diplomatic Legal Hub can hold an important place in providing a legal and evidentiary rationale, a strategy for separating lawful evidence collection from propaganda, a systematic methodology respecting, the full rights of POWs in wartime, and a clear institutional position.
Legal and Evidentiary Rationale
Captured Russian soldiers, including those classified as prisoners of war (POWs), may hold information relevant to international crimes, including abuse patterns, attacks on civilians, command structures, detention systems, deportations, unlawful orders, and the treatment of Ukrainian POWs and detained civilians. Under strict legal and ethical safeguards, in-depth interviews with Russian POWs may be necessary for the ICC, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and associated accountability mechanisms. The ICC’s Ukraine situation concerns alleged crimes committed in the context of Ukraine since November 21st, 2013.
Separating Lawful Evidence Collection from Propaganda
The methodology for in-depth interviews with Russian POWs should be anonymized, non-coercive, and consensual, for evidentiary, human rights, and legal documentation purposes. Any outcomes and process should exclude coercive questioning, confession videos, face-forward POW interviews, public humiliation, and staged denunciations. The purpose of is to conduct human-rights-respecting and law-bound interviews producing legally admissible evidence.
Legal and Human Rights Interview Safeguards
Russian POW interviews should be strictly within the confines of legality and human rights. Accountability is the central purpose. This is not popular culture; this is law and human rights. Under the Third Geneva Convention, humane treatment is core in the interview. There will be zero tolerance for insults, intimidation, public curiosity, and violence. Russian POWs may be interviewed with lawful authorization, informed consent, and protective safeguards. Never shall there be purposes of exposure, humiliation, intelligence-gathering, or public spectacle. Only limited identifying information is required from POWs in this process. Under the Third Geneva Convention, this means surname, first names, rank, dNo POW detention identifiers, faces, family details, or names should be disclosed. Protections shape every stage of an interview: anonymity, authorization, informed consent, medical and psychological fitness, non-coercive questioning, secure preservation of materials, and so on. The dignity of the POW is the precondition making the produced interrogative evidence credible and usable to the International Criminal Court, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, and broader accountability mechanisms. POWs must also be protected from violence, intimidation, insults, and public curiosity.
Diplomatic Legal Hub as Protocol Source
Ukraine and its partners can partner with and incorporate the Diplomatic Legal Hub as an important partner in developing and communicating a clear methodology for interviewing Russian POWs as potential evidentiary sources. The methodology should help distinguish journalistic inquiry, human rights documentation, and prosecutorial evidence collection, including all standards around anonymity, chain of custody, informed consent, interpreter accuracy and independence, secure handling of materials, and protection from public exposure. The purpose is to support justice without compromising POW protections, future proceedings, or the dignity of persons.
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