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Ukraine Identifies Luhansk Prison Head Accused of Torturing Captured Ukrainian Soldiers
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has issued a notice of suspicion in absentia against the former head of an occupation prison in the Luhansk region, accused of torturing Ukrainian prisoners of war.
According to a statement by the SBU on April 6, the suspect is an employee of the so-called “Correctional Colony No. 4 of the LNR.” Between October 2022 and January 2024, he headed the facility under Russian occupation.
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Investigators say that during this period, the suspect not only ordered subordinates to carry out acts of torture against captured Ukrainian soldiers but also personally participated in the abuse.
Case materials indicate that the detainees were regularly beaten with hands, feet, a rubber baton, and a carpenter’s hammer. In some instances, the suspect also used a stun gun during interrogations.
These actions constitute a violation of Articles 4, 13, 14, 15, and 130 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949.
“Based on the collected evidence, investigators of the Security Service have notified the suspect in absentia. Comprehensive measures are ongoing to bring him to justice for the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war,” the SBU stated.
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The case comes amid broader efforts by Ukraine to hold those responsible for abuses against prisoners of war accountable. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved a new package of sanctions targeting Russian judges involved in prosecuting Ukrainian POWs.
The measures, enacted following a decision by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, include 41 judges—38 Russian nationals and three collaborators—who are accused of issuing unlawful rulings against captured Ukrainian servicemen. According to Ukraine’s Presidential Office, these individuals authorized illegal detention orders and played an active role in supporting or justifying Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Among those listed are judges who handed down sentences based on fabricated terrorism charges, including one who reportedly convicted nine Ukrainian prisoners of war within a single week. The sanctions also extend to judges responsible for politically motivated rulings against public figures, activists, and journalists.
By the end of 2025, Russian forces had executed 337 Ukrainian prisoners of war, according to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. He made the statement during an interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.
“Russia has turned torture into a state policy and uses it as a weapon. According to UN data, more than 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war are subjected to systematic torture, and as of the end of 2025, 337 Ukrainian prisoners of war were deliberately and brutally executed by Russians,” Lubinets said.
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