The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has issued a notice of suspicion in absentia to the head of an illegal prison set up by Russian occupiers in Luhansk. According to the investigation, he organised systematic torture of Ukrainian patriots and local residents who resisted the occupation authorities.
This was reported by the SBU.
According to the case materials, the torture facility was headed by a former official from the administration of a local penal colony who switched sides to Russia in 2014. For this, representatives of the occupation administration appointed him head of the so-called "Luhansk Penitentiary Institution of the Interior Ministry of the LPR", which was later renamed "Remand Prison No. 1".
From the start of the full-scale invasion, Russian troops and occupation structures imprisoned Ukrainian patriots and residents of the region there who spoke out against the Kremlin regime.
According to investigators, people were held in overcrowded, cold cells without heating, warm clothing or blankets. The premises were unsanitary, and detainees were deprived of food, water and medical care. This led to physical exhaustion and to the worsening of chronic illnesses and infectious diseases.
In addition, captives were tortured with electric shocks and beaten with rubber batons. Some detainees had bones broken until they lost consciousness.
On the basis of the evidence collected, SBU investigators issued a notice of suspicion in absentia to the head of the illegal prison under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — cruel treatment of the civilian population.
As the suspect is hiding in temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, efforts to bring him to justice are ongoing.
The pre-trial investigation was carried out by officers of the SBU Main Directorate in Donetsk and Luhansk regions under the procedural supervision of the Luhansk Regional Prosecutor’s Office.