Three Russian occupiers involved in the torture of Ukrainians during the temporary occupation of Izyum and Kherson have been identified.
Thanks to the joint efforts of the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement agencies, two Russian military personnel who tortured a police officer during the occupation of Izium in the Kharkiv region have been identified, and the guilt of another Russian National Guard soldier who tortured and killed a civilian in occupied Kherson has been proven.
Torture of a police officer during the occupation of Izyum
Under the procedural guidance of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, two servicemen of the 27th separate motorised rifle brigade of the 1st tank army of the Western Military District of the Russian Federation were notified in absentia of their suspicion of cruel treatment of the civilian population and other violations of the laws and customs of war, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The investigation established that in May 2022, during the occupation of Izyum, the suspects seized a district police officer who was in civilian clothes and forcibly took him to the basement of one of the garages. There, they tortured the man for several days.
The victim was repeatedly struck with hands and feet all over his body, tortured with electric shocks, suffocated by throwing a harness around his neck and cutting off his oxygen supply, and beaten with iron rods and rubber batons. The occupiers inserted metal spokes into his nose and ears.
When the victim lost consciousness from the unbearable pain, they poured cold water on him to revive him and continued the beating. They broke the victim’s arm, which he used to cover his head when they struck him.
In between beatings, the occupiers again demanded information, but when they were refused, they continued their abuse. They took the police officer out into the yard, forced him to his knees and beat him, pressing his head against the wall.
All this time, the victim was held without medical assistance, food or water.
Later, the occupiers, promising to spare his life, demanded that the police officer hand over his service weapon. Finally, under threat of death, the victim was forced to reveal the location where he had hidden his service pistol. After that, he was released.
The suspects are wanted.
The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by the SBU in the Kharkiv region with the operational support of the National Police’s DSR.
Life imprisonment for torture and murder of a civilian in Kherson
Following a public indictment by the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office, a serviceman of the Russian National Guard was found guilty of cruel treatment of civilians, combined with intentional murder, and other violations of the laws and customs of war, committed as part of a group of persons (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438; Part 2 of Article 28, Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The court sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Prosecutors proved that during the temporary occupation of Kherson, the convicted person ensured the functioning of a place of illegal detention of civilians, located in the premises of a temporary detention centre. The occupying forces used it as a torture chamber.
The convicted person escorted illegally detained Ukrainians to interrogations, where they were systematically tortured. In June 2022, he assisted in the intentional murder of one of the detained Ukrainian citizens: he guarded the cell door to prevent other prisoners from interfering or escaping. At that time, other Russian military personnel tortured the victim to death. The cases against two of them have been separated into separate proceedings, and the indictments have already been sent to court.
A special pre-trial investigation was conducted by the Main Department of the National Police in the Kherson region.