Ukrainian Police Charge DPR Militants with Torture and War Crimes

Law enforcement officers in Kherson region served suspicion notices in absentia to two residents of Donetsk region who served in the illegal armed group of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" during the temporary occupation of Bilozersky district and tortured a local resident.

According to the press service of the regional police, in June 2022, two natives of Horlivka, who were 20 and 30 years old at the time, along with other occupants, broke into the house of a 39-year-old man in the village of Dniprovske. He was arbitrarily detained and taken to the seized district court, where they tried to extract information about the AFU military and terrorist fighters.

According to the prosecutor's office, the torture was brutal: one of the militants beat the man, bringing him to physical exhaustion, and another used electric shocks. The war criminals brought stun guns to the water-covered floor where the prisoner was standing and shocked him through wires attached to his limbs.

In addition to physical abuse, the man was kept in inhumane conditions - without water, food and hygiene products. After two days of torture, the occupiers released him.

Investigators charged the "DPR" militants with cruel treatment of civilians and violation of the laws and customs of war (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), as well as high treason (Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). They face life imprisonment for their crimes.

The police emphasized that the investigation is still ongoing, and law enforcement officers are working to establish the whereabouts of the perpetrators in order to bring them to justice.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officers have identified another "DNR" militant who, along with an accomplice, abused and raped a resident of the Kalynivka village territorial community under the threat of execution and amputation. The man in question is a 48-year-old resident of Debaltseve, Donetsk region, who was previously convicted of serious crimes and was "serving" in the "109th Rifle Regiment, 1st Army Corps of the DPR" with the rank of "private".

Investigators charged the "DPR fighter" with inhuman treatment of a civilian, causing physical pain and mental suffering, and sexual violence. Therefore, he was notified in absentia of suspicion of violations of the laws and customs of war committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy.

Ірина Глухова