All foreign citizens and stateless persons who take part in hostilities in the territory of Ukraine as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are admitted voluntarily to military service under a contract in accordance with the 1992 Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service". 

Such persons are servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who, in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto, 1977, have the legal status of combatants. This status, among other things, gives such persons the right to be treated as prisoners of war in the event of falling into enemy hands. 

We want to recall that the 1949 Geneva Conventions prohibit all illegal acts, including violence, intimidation or inaction against prisoners of war, and oblige the humane treatment of prisoners of war. 

Failure to comply with the relevant recognized norms of international humanitarian law is a serious violation of the Convention.