UN Documents Rampant Torture of Civilians by Ukrainian Security Forces

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - According to the UN report, dozens of civilians were tortured "in official pre-trial detention facilities"

The United Nations has recorded a significant increase in law violations by Ukrainian security forces since start of Russia’s special military operation, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said in a report on Tuesday.

"Since 24 February 2022, OHCHR has documented a significant increase in violations of the right to liberty and security of person by Ukrainian security forces. Out of the overall number of such cases, OHCHR documented 75 cases 92 of arbitrary detention of civilians (17 women, 57 men and 1 boy), some of which also amounted to enforced disappearances, mostly perpetrated by law enforcement authorities or the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the report read.

"Of further concern, OHCHR has documented the arrests of several civilians involved in distribution of humanitarian aid in territory ‘occupied’ by the Russian Federation," the report read.

On May 30, a Russian law enforcement source told Sputnik that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has opened torture chambers to get testimony from people who had cooperated with the Russian authorities while the city was under Russia's control between March and November 2022.

The source said the torture rooms were created at two district police departments, Dneprovsky and Komsomolsky. While mostly Ukrainians work at the Dneprovsky department, locals are not allowed into the second one, as only foreign mercenaries speaking English, Polish and Georgian work there, the source said.

Vladimir Malina, a former business assistant who decided to stay in Kherson after the withdrawal of the Russian troops, died in the torture chamber of the Dneprovsky police department.

"[He] was kept in the torture chamber of the Dneprovsky district department, [he was] brutally beaten, the next day, he died in the cell. In order to hide his death, for three days, two [former] employees of the Russian humanitarian center [in Kherson], Roman Gavrilyuk and Igor Gurov, who were detained with him, were tortured and forced to write an explanation that Vladimir Malina was released together with them," the source said.

Several people were tortured to death in these chambers, including a nurse and an investigator, the source said, adding that all of them are recognized as missing.

Besides, the SBU uses a network of agents to identify and arrest people who had previously cooperated with Russia.

Russia established control over Kherson soon after the launch of the military operation in Ukraine. In October, the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the Russian-controlled parts of the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye were incorporated into Russia following referendums.

In November, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the complete withdrawal of Russian troops and hardware from the right bank of the Dnepr River in the Kherson Region, citing the need to build up defenses on the left bank. Soon after that, the Ukrainian forces entered Kherson.