Russian Soldiers Used Electric Shock, Beatings On Ukrainian Civilians; 55 Torture Chambers Found

Russian soldiers subjected Ukrainian civilians to electric shock torture and beatings during interrogation, according to a report.

Between April and May 2022, Russia began filtering Ukrainian civilians whom it categorized as disloyal and dangerous and subjected them to electric shock torture while in detention, Ukraine Media Center - Ukrinform reported, citing Borys Petruniok, a researcher at the ZMINA Human Rights Center.

"Joint Forces Operation veterans, former military personnel and their families, patriotic civil society activists, Euromaidan protesters, for example, or any civilian volunteers are the common victims. They could be representatives of local self-government, local authorities, police, or simply informal leaders in the communities holding some kind of authority," Petruniok noted in his study. "All of these people were purposefully detained, interrogated, and tortured by the Russians."

Some Russian soldiers also coupled electric shock torture with beatings using hands or feet, metal or plastic pipes, wooden bats, or police batons, the study noted.

It further said that a total of 345 cases of civilian torture between February 2022 — the month Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — and March 2023 were recorded. The torture cases were recorded in the regions of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson.

Since the war began, Ukrainian officials have found numerous torture chambers set up by the Russian military in de-occupied territories. On Thursday, Denis Lysenko, a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office, revealed they are currently investigating 55 places believed to have been used by the Russian army to illegally detain and torture Ukrainian citizens.

"As for the general situation in the country, the investigators are currently looking into the circumstances of the operation of 55 places of mass illegal detention of citizens, as well as so-called torture chambers, which were discovered in the de-occupied territories. At the same time, about 60 such places are currently located in the temporarily occupied territories. The circumstances of their operation are also being investigated, but there are certain peculiarities," he said.

In December, Ukrainian officials uncovered 10 torture chambers in Kherson Oblast where children were kept, tortured and psychologically abused. Two months prior, officials also unearthed a torture chamber in Kharkiv. In that torture chamber, officials found a large plastic container that had dozens of gold dental crowns. They also found a gas mask they believed was put on the head of a victim before they were buried alive.