Russian torture Ukrainian Hryhorii Sinchenko to force confession to a crime, his mother says

The Russians are holding severely ill Ukrainian prisoner Hryhorii Sinchenko in Detention Centre No. 2 in Taganrog, Rostov Oblast. The facility is known as one of the most brutal places of detention in Russia.

Source: Sinchenko’s mother Tetiana Hulevska, as reported by the Association of Relatives of the Kremlin’s Political Prisoners

Details: Tetiana said that Hryhorii is subjected to systematic torture and denied medical assistance. 

Russia is also denying him access to a lawyer. The lawyer himself claims that screams are constantly heard from the windows of the detention centre where Sinchenko is held. 

Sinchenko's previous lawyer refused to provide services, sending a message to his mother, stating that "contacts within the Russian law enforcement agencies strongly advised him" to refuse to defend the Ukrainian prisoner due to the risk of being mobilised for the war against Ukraine.

Quote: "During the latest court hearing on 12 August 2024, to which the lawyer connected via video link, Hryhorii appeared beaten and exhausted. The defender saw Sinchenko with bruises on his face: there were fresh haematomas under Hryhorii's eyes, abrasions on his chin and lips, and his entire face was swollen. The lawyer barely had time to ask Hryhorii about his condition before the video connection was abruptly cut off."

Details: Following this incident, on 14 August 2024, the lawyer arrived at the detention centre but was not allowed to see his client. Instead, he was handed a note allegedly written by Hryhorii, stating that he did not wish to see him. 

During the subsequent court hearing on 26 August, Sinchenko sat with his head down for the first time, not actively participating in his defence as he usually did, but remaining silent. He admitted his guilt for the first time and requested not to appeal the court's decision. 

His mother and lawyer said that Hryhorii was tortured to extract a confession. They also believe that he is willing to agree to anything just to be transferred from the Taganrog detention centre to another prison. After the court session, the lawyer once again attempted to see Sinchenko but was denied access.

Note: "Taganrog is known as one of the most brutal places for Ukrainians in Russia. It's called hell on earth. In particular, Azov fighters from Azovstal are held there. Released prisoners recount horrific torture. There, everyone who the Russians want to label as criminals is forced to confess to crimes they did not commit. Later, they are transferred to Rostov for trial," said Tetiana Katrychenko, Executive Director of the human rights organisation Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIPL).

Background:

• 25-year-old Hryhorii Sinchenko was arrested in occupied Donetsk on 2 December 2016. He was accused of partisan activities, illegal possession of weapons, and sabotaging a mobile operator's tower. In December 2017, Sinchenko returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange along with 74 other captives.
• In the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), he was subjected to horrific torture for his partisan activities against the self-proclaimed people's republic, despite having a third-degree disability. His mother Tetiana said he was tortured with electric shocks, hung from the ceiling by his twisted arms, suffocated, and beaten to the point of suffering a ruptured lung.
• In October 2019, Hryhorii organised a protest against torture in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. He posted a video on YouTube with the caption: "This is done to draw attention to the inhumane torture in the ‘Ministry of State Security’ basements. The people of Donbas must protest against torture, or the fascist republic will be left without communication".
• On 31 October 2019, Hryhorii was detained again by the Russians and imprisoned for a second time. In late May 2020, it was reported that the twice-captured Ukrainian patriot had escaped from the dungeons of the so-called "DNR", but he was apprehended for the third time a month later. Following this, he was illegally transported from Donetsk Oblast to Russia and is currently being held in detention centre No. 2 in Taganrog.
• Freelance author of Ukrainska Pravda Viktoriia Roshchyna, whose death became known at the end of September, was held in Detention Centre No. 2 in Taganrog. She had been detained in Taganrog at least from May to September 2024, in a solitary confinement cell.

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