Occupiers set up torture chamber in Kherson office centre
The Security Service of Ukraine [SSU] and the National Police of Ukraine have discovered another torture chamber that belonged to the Russian occupiers in Kherson, which they set up in the office centre.
Victoriia Shakula, the spokeswoman of the SSU in Kherson Oblast, reported that the Russians have held about 50 people in the basements. Ukrainian witness YouTube channel published the video about the torture chamber.
"The occupiers kept Kherson citizens, who had a strong pro-Ukrainian position, in the torture chamber. Kherson citizens who resisted the occupation authorities...
During the inspection of the torture chamber, objects were found that made evidence of torture of local residents," Victoriia Shakula said.
A chair and sticks were in one of the rooms, which were used to torture the Kherson people. A section of the central heating radiator, to which the prisoners were handcuffed, hangs on the wall.
Prayers to God are scratched on the walls of the cells, reading: "God, protect and save", "God, give strength". Crossed out lines, which indicate how many days the kidnapped people spent in the basements can also be seen there.
"According to information from local residents, traces of blood were cleaned in these rooms every day, and the occupiers tried to hide traces of torture by starting a 'big fire,'" Oleksii Prodaivoda, correspondent of the project, said.
There was no light at all in some rooms; in others, on the contrary, light was never turned off, which is how the prisoners were deprived of sleep.
The occupiers held Kherson residents with a pro-Ukrainian stance in the torture chamber – as well as people from whom they wanted to receive money. In one of the basement rooms, the occupiers kept teenagers who tore down the Russian flag.
There were also cases when people were "surrendered" by their neighbours because of old grudges, Shakula said.
"According to operative information, unfortunately, there are many people who were supporters of the so-called "Russian world" among local residents.
The SSU continues to identify spies and collaborators who are still on the territory of liberated Kherson Oblast. I would like to note that no collaborator will escape responsibility. Punishment awaits every collaborator," the SSU spokeswoman added.
In the end, fleeing to the left bank of the Dnipro, the occupiers tried to destroy the traces of their crimes and set fire to the torture chamber, but they failed to burn the building.
Currently, law enforcement officers are carrying out a complex of investigative and operational actions to identify those guilty of crimes and bring them to justice.
Previously, the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for human rights (ombudsman) said that the Russians tortured people in Kherson Oblast even more brutally than in other oblasts: men and women were held in confinement together, each cell was video-recorded, and there was also a confinement area for teenagers.
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