A Russian soldier will stand trial for torturing residents of the Kherson region

In the Kherson region, the case of a Russian serviceman accused of torturing and unlawfully detaining a civilian during the occupation of the region has been referred to court. According to the investigation, the man personally participated in interrogations involving the use of violence.

This was reported by the press service of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

The Russian soldier, implicated in the unlawful detention and torture of civilians in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region, will be tried in absentia. The indictment has already been sent to court under the procedural supervision of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Investigators established that the defendant served as a senior rifleman in a separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian army and participated in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since spring 2022, he has been in the Beryslav district, where, together with other occupiers, he supported the activities of the illegal occupation administration.

According to the case file, in March 2022, at one of the Russian checkpoints, military personnel detained a local resident after inspecting his mobile phone. The man was placed in the premises of an abandoned agricultural enterprise, where he remained for about three weeks.

The investigation believes that the defendant escorted the victim to interrogations and personally participated in them. The man was demanded to provide information about the possible locations of Ukrainian military personnel. When the detainee did not provide the required answers, physical violence and torture were used against him.

In early April, the victim was transported by armored vehicle to another location of unlawful detention, set up in the premises of the Bilyayivka school. The man remained there until August 2022. Later, he and other detainees were taken to the outskirts of a neighboring town and left out in the open.

The prosecutor’s office also reports that for several months, the victim was held in extremely harsh conditions: without proper lighting, a place to sleep, or sufficient food and water. The detainees were effectively deprived of basic hygiene supplies and the ability to maintain sanitary conditions.

Currently, the defendant is evading justice and is wanted by the authorities. Consequently, the trial will proceed in absentia.

In early June, a court in Kherson convicted a Russian police officer in absentia for a war crime committed during the occupation of the city. The investigation proved that he was involved in the unlawful detention and torture of a civilian in a seized detention center, which Russian military personnel used as a torture chamber.

Анна Бальчінос