Former Ukrainian police officers worked for Russia and tortured Kherson residents

In the Kherson region, 20 members of a criminal organization created during the occupation were exposed, including former and current Ukrainian law enforcement officers who defected to Russia. They are suspected of torture, kidnapping and collaboration with the occupiers.

This was reported by the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office.

Under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General's Office, 20 people who were members of a criminal group formed during the occupation of Kherson region were served with a notice of suspicion. Among them are former and current law enforcement officers who defected to the enemy.

The investigation found that after the Russian invasion of Kherson region, Ukrainian and Russian citizens created a pseudo-police formation called the Novotroitsk Police Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Kherson region.

It was headed by three Ukrainians who recruited locals loyal to the occupiers and former National Police officers. They were given fake titles and appointed to positions in the occupation police.

The pseudo-security forces acted on the instructions of the Russian leadership: they detained Ukrainian patriots and law enforcement officers, interrogated them, tortured them, and kept them in terrible conditions in the basements of the seized police station in Novotroitske.

They were charged with participation in a criminal organization, cooperation with the occupiers, kidnapping, torture and other serious crimes under Articles 255, 111-1, 146, 127 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The torturers face up to 15 years in prison under this article.

A Belgian human rights organization recently released a report documenting the systematic use of torture by the Russian occupiers against civilians in the Kherson temporary detention center during the occupation. Among the common methods are brutal beatings, hanging by the hands, electric torture, and simulated drowning by pouring water.

The report states that the victims were beaten with punches, kicks, truncheons, rifle butts, and even furniture. The occupiers often threatened life imprisonment, execution or murder of loved ones. At the same time, the relatives of the detainees usually did not know where the person had gone.

Анна Бальчінос