Head of a torture chamber in Kherson region sentenced to 15 years in prison posthumously

The head of the torture chamber in occupied Nova Kakhovka was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for collaboration. He was found guilty of collaborating with the occupiers and participating in the torture of Ukrainians, although Moskalenko himself was liquidated in 2023.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism with reference to the court' s verdict.

44-year-old Serhiy Moskalenko, who headed the torture chamber in the seized police building in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. The decision was made by the Novovorontsov District Court on June 12, finding him guilty of collaboration under Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Moskalenko died back in March 2023 as a result of a car bombing near the Yuvileina village council, where the occupation police were based at the time.

According to the investigation, in the spring of 2022, Serhiy Moskalenko voluntarily took up the position of head of the temporary detention center at the occupation police of Nova Kakhovka, and in June he became the acting commander of the commander's platoon.

Witnesses said that it was he who organized the torture of detainees in the basement of the department. People were beaten, tortured with electric shocks, threatened with death, and sometimes shot. Moskalenko, according to eyewitnesses, called himself a senior officer and openly enjoyed his power in the occupation structure.

One of the witnesses, a former district police officer, confirmed that in May 2022 he was illegally detained in this torture chamber, and that Moskalenko was in charge of everything. Another victim admitted that after the mock execution he had serious hearing problems, and some of the prisoners died.

Prior to the full-scale invasion, Moskalenko ran the Jaguar security firm in Nova Kakhovka. According to the court 's verdict, in addition to imprisonment, his land plot of almost 6 hectares is subject to confiscation. The decision has not yet entered into force.

In Kherson region, more than 1,500 cases of torture of civilians during the Russian occupation have been documented, including about 50 deaths as a result of torture. Law enforcement officers have already notified more than a hundred people involved in these crimes, including Russian military, FSB officers, and local collaborators.

At least 13 torture chambers have been discovered in the region: 11 on the already liberated territories, and 2 on the temporarily occupied territories. The largest number of such places was recorded in Kherson district - 7, in Beryslav district - 4, and one in Kakhovka and Henichesk districts.

Анна Бальчінос