In captured Henichesk, Russians keep abducted Ukrainians in basement, forcing them to praise Putin
That’s according to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center (CRC) non-profit, Ukrinform reports.
"With the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, the occupiers set up a site for ‘interrogation,’ torture, and intimidation in the basement of School 17 in Henichesk, Kherson region," the statement said.
The CRC has learned how grave the situation is of the detainees held there.
Prisoners are brought there blindfolded or with a sack over their head, while some are forced to keep blindfolds on all the time.
The Russians also hold pseudo-friendly conversations with their hostages, telling them: "We brought you here so that you would understand that everything is fine here, no one is hurting you, while in Bucha, it was all a hoax staged by the Ukrainian military."
Moreover, the invaders force detainees to chant "Putin is the president of the world," applying force to anyone defying orders. Dissenters could also be transferred to Simferopol (occupied Crimea) or Nova Kakhovka (another town in Kherson region), the report says.
It is known that detainees are fed three times a day and provided with water upon request, as well as allowed access to restrooms.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, in the Henichesk district of Kherson region, the occupiers carried out mass raids on June 21-22, abducting about 50 Crimean Tatars.
As of June 22, the Kherson police have opened 408 criminal proceedings into the abduction of civilians. For now, 204 citizens have been released, while the fate of another 204 abductees remains unclear.
The Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, said that in Kherson region, Russian invaders hold in torture chambers nearly 600 people, while some abducted locals are transferred to Crimea.
People are being held in the building of the Kherson Regional State Administration, in a pre-trial detention facility, and Vocational School 17 in Henichesk. In Crimea, the abducted Ukrainians are held in the Simferopol-based pre-trial detention center in a separate block, as well as in the city of Sevastopol.
