Ukrainian law enforcement officers from Kherson region became torturers in the service of Russia

Police officers from the Kherson region were accused of collaborating with the occupiers, kidnapping and torturing local residents. They face up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.

The Security Service of Ukraine served twenty collaborators from the so-called police of the Novotroitsk village community in Kherson region with a notice of suspicion in absentia. They were accused of participating in a criminal organization, collaboration, kidnapping and torture.

According to the investigation, in the spring of 2022, the Russian occupiers created a fake "district police station" in the seized administrative building of the National Police in Novotroitske.

Local traitors were recruited there to kidnap and torture people, rob businesses, and loot. Both women and men were kept in the torture chambers. Among them is a 38-year-old woman who was abducted in Kherson in August 2022, held in several settlements, and released only in December. There have been other cases of abductions.

The key figures of the occupation "police" were:

• Eduard Bondarenko - former head of the prevention sector in the police, headed the fake "district police";
• Serhiy Lyashko, first a "deputy" and then the head of the occupation police. In the fall of 2024, his car was blown up and he lost a leg;
• Serhiy Trishechkin - deputy head and head of the "investigation department".

Other defendants include employees of fake police stations, district police officers, so-called investigators, convoy officers, and road service inspectors. All these people voluntarily cooperated with the enemy and performed punitive functions against the civilian population.

They are charged with participation in a criminal organization (Article 255 of the Criminal Code), collaboration (Article 111-1), illegal deprivation of liberty (Article 146) and torture (Article 127). Some of the suspects have been charged with these articles before, but now the case has been expanded with new facts and participants. All face 12 to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Also, the Velyko Oleksandrivskyi District Court of Kherson Region sentenced 53-year-old Serhiy Shcheglov to 15 years in prison in absentia for collaboration and torture. In 2022, he headed a fake "police department" where he tortured women: he beat them, forced them to sing the Russian national anthem, work for free, and threatened them with death and deportation to Crimea. According to the victims, for the slightest offense, they were beaten on the head with a metal stick and kept in terrible conditions without food or medical care.

Анна Бальчінос