Torture Facilities in Russia: Ukrainian Detainees Face Systematic Abuse

RURussian Federation|

An investigation by the Viktoriia project has revealed harrowing details of torture and abuse against Ukrainian detainees in Russian-held facilities, particularly in Taganrog. The report indicates that a pre-trial detention center in the southern city has been repurposed into a notorious torture site, holding an estimated 16,000 civilians without adequate legal justification.

Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, detainees have reported systematic violence, including electric shocks, beatings, and forced confessions, which human rights experts assert is sanctioned by Moscow. Alice Edwards, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, emphasized that the use of torture seems integral to Russian military policy against both combatants and civilians alike.

Documentation from the project identified 29 detention centers across Russia where torture occurs regularly. Former prisoners detailed horrific treatment, with many describing a “welcoming” procedure that involved severe beatings and psychological torture. As of April 2024, the actual number of detainees remains unclear, as many are held incommunicado with families receiving little to no information regarding their fate, according to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's commissioner for human rights.

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