Russian soldier sentenced to prison for torture in Kherson

A court handed down a sentence to a Russian National Guard soldier who, in April–May 2022, participated in the torture and unlawful detention of civilians in occupied Kherson. The victims identified the defendant from photographs, and his identity was confirmed through forensic facial analysis and his accounts on VKontakte and Instagram.

This is stated in the verdict of the Kherson City Court.

The occupier was sentenced to 12 years in prison. 

The identification was possible because the convicted man was the only employee at the temporary detention center who did not wear a mask.

According to the investigation, the defendant is a native of the Rostov region who, in April 2022, along with other Russian military personnel, detained two civilian men in Kherson. The detainees were not military personnel and did not participate in combat operations. They were held in the seized Temporary Detention Center No. 1 of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Kherson region on Teploenergetikov Street.

The detained civilians were beaten and repeatedly tortured with electric shocks. The court also found that the cells were unsanitary. The men were fed once a day, given no hygiene supplies, and received no medical care.

As previously reported by Intent, the prosecutor’s office filed an indictment with the court against the host of the pro-Russian television channel“Millet” in Crimea. The journalist faces up to 10 years in prison for spreading Kremlin propaganda and publicly calling for changes to Ukraine’s state borders.

Юлія Калабайда