Ukrainians in Kherson Region Face Brutal Reality of Russian Occupation

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Russian forces have been systematically imprisoning, torturing, and killing civilians in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region ever since they occupied it in March 2022, turning police stations into torture centers and using drones to hunt people down and kill them, The Kyiv Independent claims.

Banner: The Kyiv Independent, screenshot

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Reported by

Danylo Mokryk, The Kyiv Independent
October 18th, 2024
Russian Federation, Ukraine

After earlier reporting that Russian forces have been using small commercial drones, loaded with explosives, in what the outlet called “human safaris,” a new investigation published on Thursday by the OCCRP member center in Ukraine identified victims of torture and killings. 

Reporters have found that in Hornostaivka, a former Ukrainian police station in Torhova Street has been transformed into a torture chamber by Russian soldiers. 

War crime investigators and journalists have gathered harrowing testimonies from locals recounting their own detentions or witnessing the brutal abuse of others during 2022 and 2023.

Some victims never survived the torture, according to witnesses.

In 2022, Volodymyr Ruchka was beaten to death in the chamber, and a year later, Serhii Klopot met the same fate. Others, like businessman and social worker Oleksandr Slisarenko, have simply disappeared after being abducted. Slisarenko was taken from his home in August 2022, and his family has had no word from him since.

On November 20, 2023, 28-year-old former Ukrainian serviceman Ruslan Rusnak was taken for questioning by Russian authorities. His death certificate lists a stomach ulcer as the cause of death that same day, but his mother, Raisa Rusnak, suspects otherwise. She wasn’t informed of his death until a week later, and when she was called to identify his body, she was left with little doubt that her son had been tortured to death.

The grim fate of others abducted remains unknown. In November 2023, three men—Denys Shum and brothers Ivan and Anton Shtepa—were taken to the same facility on Torhova Street, but they have not been seen since.

The investigation reveals that this torture facility’s reach extends beyond Hornostaivka.

Residents from nearby towns like Kakhovka and Nova Kakhovka have also been detained there. The victims include former Ukrainian soldiers, hunters with registered firearms, and local businessmen, often targeted for extortion.

In one case, agricultural entrepreneur Hennadii Kryzhanovskii was imprisoned and only released after giving up two cars to the Russian military. Baptist church leader Oleksandr Maltsev was also detained and extorted in the same way.