Russian commander from Simferopol is suspected of torturing prisoners and civilians

A former DPR unit commander from Simferopol will stand trial for torturing war prisoners and civilians. The prisoners were beaten, starved and forced to eat porridge with sand and stones.

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

Law enforcement officers served a notice of suspicion to the former commander of the "Kramatorsk Guards Separate Commandant Regiment of the 1st Army Corps of the DPR" of ill-treatment of war prisoners and civilians, which was carried out by a group of people by prior conspiracy.

According to the investigation, a resident of Simferopol, together with his subordinates, after the seizure of part of the region, held military personnel of the Defense Forces and civilians falsely accused of crimes in the building of the former SBU in Donetsk.

More than 100 people were held in one room at a time, forced to take turns sleeping on wooden boards, shields and metal shelves. Some prisoners were beaten in front of others to intimidate them.

After the detention, the prisoners were practically not fed. After a few days, they were given porridge with sand, small stones and pasta, as well as soup with the smell of diesel fuel. The drinking water was almost unusable, which made it impossible for the prisoners to maintain hygiene. They were allowed to wash only after several months.

Later, some of the prisoners managed to escape from the places of illegal detention. The former commander faces up to 12 years in prison.

In early January, a Russian special service officer was convicted in Odesa for torture and coercion to treason during the occupation of Kherson. The court found Yuriy Belyatsky, an officer of the 9th Department of the 5th Service of the Russian Federal Security Service, guilty of violating the laws and customs of war.

During the occupation of Kherson, in March 2022, the Russian military broke into the apartment of the head of the recruiting department of one of the military units. The man was not at home, so the invaders took his wife and son hostage. When he returned home, he was subjected to violence, intimidation and deception to force the Ukrainian to cooperate with the occupiers.

Анна Бальчінос