Torturer from Kherson region identified in soldier returned from captivity

A Kyiv court has begun to consider the case of Ukrainian soldier Maksym Bobylev from Kherson region. After returning from Russian captivity, he was accused of ill-treatment of prisoners and cooperation with the administration of the torture chamber.

This was reported by the Court Reporter.

According to the investigation, on July 17, 2024, 95 Ukrainian soldiers returned from Russian captivity. At the time, former prisoner Viktor Lakhno ("Leleka") stated on Instagram that one of the released prisoners, Maksym Bobylev, allegedly cooperated with the administration of the colony where prisoners were held and tortured.

According to Lakhno, Bobylev is from the Kherson region and, while in captivity, maintained contacts with one of the colony's main torturers, known as "Kortik"(Kirill Shakurov). According to the former prisoner, Bobylev refused to be exchanged and wanted to stay in Russia, and provided information about other prisoners.

Lakhno also received audio messages from eyewitnesses confirming the defendant's cooperation with the colony administration. He has published some of these messages on his page and will testify regarding the published materials.

Kyrylo Shakurov works in the Kalininska penal colony in the occupied Horlivka, Donetsk region. In 2023-2024, he was notified of suspicion in Ukraine for torturing Ukrainian war prisoners in the Volnovakha colony, where he was an inspector of the "supervision and security department".

Bobylev is charged with six episodes of ill-treatment of prisoners in the fall of 2023. The events took place in the former Kalinin colony in Horlivka, where representatives of the DPR created a torture chamber for military and civilians.

In 2024-2025, at least two dozen employees of this colony were suspected of torturing prisoners. The victims identified three of the defendant's accomplices from the photographs: assistant shift supervisor Andriy Kononenko, security department inspector Artem Karyanov, and detective Dmytro Andreev.

As stated in the case, Bobylev served in the military unit A3821, 137th Battalion of the Separate Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy. On February 24, 2022, he and 13 colleagues were taken prisoner in the village of Chaplynka, Kherson region.

In the summer of 2024, he was exchanged. Shortly after his return, former prisoners of war claimed on social media that he had allegedly cooperated with the administration of the colony where the military were held.

In August 2024, he was taken into custody and notified of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war, in particular, of cruel treatment of prisoners of war, a crime punishable by imprisonment for 8-12 years.

The suspect is currently in custody and has stated that he is ready to testify only after examining all the evidence and interrogating victims and witnesses. He is represented in court by a lawyer from the Free Legal Aid Center.

In January, law enforcement officers in the Kherson region exposed a Russian "commander" who tortured civilians and forced them to cooperate with the occupiers. The police established his involvement in two more cases of torture.

Анна Бальчінос