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Re: WAR CRIMES: Russians Raped & Electrocuted Prisoners Genitals in 35 Torture Chambe
Russians Raped Prisoners and Electrocuted Their Genitals in Torture Chambers
More Than 35 Torture Chambers Were Discovered in Kherson, Southern Ukraine
BBC 3 AUG 2023
A view from a preliminary detention centre which, as Ukrainians say, was used by Russian service members to jail and torture people, before they retreated from Kherson, Ukraine November 16, 2022.
Rape, suffocation, waterboarding and beatings are just some of the brutal methods Russian soldiers used on detainees in southern Ukraine, it has emerged.
Evidence collected from more than 35 ‘torture chambers’ in Kherson lays bare the horrific sexual crimes committed by Putin’s troops.
Genital electrocutions and rape with a foreign object were among their sickening tactics, law firm Global Rights Compliance revealed in a shocking new report.
Anna Mykytenko, a senior legal adviser at the firm, told Metro.co.uk this evidence reveals a ‘systematic plan to not only degrade and humiliate prisoners but also to eradicate Ukrainian identity’.
A room believed to have been used by Russian troops to jail and torture people in Kherson, Ukraine, December 10, 2022. Plastic ties and a broken chair are seen inside a basement of an office building
‘Sexual violence has been – and continues to be – used against Ukrainian people from all sections of society,’ she stressed.
‘This and other crimes indicate a total disregard for international law by Russian forces operating on Ukrainian soil.
‘There is no doubt that survivors of these atrocities will bear the long term mental scars following their experiences in the detention centres.’
Finding justice for survivors may be difficult, but she added the identification of perpetrators is ‘well underway’.
Hallway of a building which Ukrainian civilians said had been used as a torture center by Russian forces in Kherson, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022.
Civilians said they were detained and tortured at the site when the area was occupied, and many described being tortured while being strapped to office chairs.
One of the locations where civilians said they were detained and tortured
A garage adjacent to a courthouse in the village of Bilozerka, in Ukraines southern Kherson region, December 2, 2022 where Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces were stationed and unlawfully detained civilians.
Lying visible are an upturned chair, plastic ties and a gas mask attached to a tube, which prosecutors said resembles improvised torture devices used by occupying Russians to create a sensation of drowning by filling with liquid.
‘What we are witnessing in Kherson is just the tip of the iceberg in Putin’s barbaric plan to obliterate an entire population,’ Ms Mykytenko said.
‘Justice will be served for Ukrainians as we continue our mission to identify and hold perpetrators accountable. Impunity is not an option.’
Formed of prosecutors, lawyers and analysts, the Mobile Justice Team was set up by Global Rights Compliance in April 2022 to investigate and prosecute war crimes in Ukraine.
Since the liberation of a large part of the Kherson Oblast in October, they have been working on some 320 detention cases.
Half of Ukrainian detainees subjected to torture by Russians in Kherson
It was previously revealed detainees were forced to learn and recite pro-Russian slogans, poems and songs.
Russia’s pro-war ‘Z’ symbol on a wall in such a centre
Of those victims, at least 43% cited sexual violence as a common tactic used by Russian guards.
Some 36 people said their genitals were electrocuted during their interrogations, while others were threatened with genital mutilation.
It was previously revealed detainees were forced to learn and recite pro-Russian slogans, poems and songs.
Pictures shared in November last year showed wall markings with tallies showing Ukrainians counting the number of days they were held captive.
Teachers, members of the military, police officers and activists were among the detainees
Half of Ukrainian detainees subjected to torture by Russians in Kherson.
Both male and female members of the military, volunteers, activists, community leaders, police, medical workers, and teachers were locked up in the centres.
According to the preliminary analysis by the specialist unit, Ukrainian troops were most likely to be tortured.
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