Police discover 80 Russian torture chambers in Ukraine

Ukrainian law enforcement officers have discovered 80 Russian torture chambers and captivity places within the de-occupied areas.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Internal Affairs Deputy Minister Kateryna Pavlichenko during a meeting with Alice Jill Edwards, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, an Ukrinform correspondent reports, referring to the Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry.

“A large part of Ukrainian territories have been occupied. But, in the de-occupied areas, captivity places and torture chambers were discovered, where civilians had been illegally held and tortured. The police have found 80 of such places so far – in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv and Sumy regions,” Pavlichenko told.

In her words, investigators have recently come across another torture chamber in the Kyiv region's Bucha. On March 3-7, 2022, Russian soldiers illegally held 151 people there. The occupiers did not provide people with food, water, or medicines.

“We cannot forget that many servicemen and rescuers are still in [Russian] captivity. Their relatives do not have proper access to information about their confinement conditions. There are also civilians in Russian captivity. In fact, they are hostages. All these issues require special attention of the international community,” Pavlichenko stressed.

According to Pavlichenko, the National Police of Ukraine opened more than 80,000 criminal proceedings over the crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.

Photo: illustrative, Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, Internal Affairs Ministry