- Category
- War in Ukraine
Ukraine Identifies Three More Suspects in 2014 Torture of Civilian Volunteer in Temporarily Occupied Donetsk
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Ukrainian law enforcement authorities have identified three members of the Russian-backed illegal armed group known as the Bezler group who are suspected of committing war crimes against a civilian volunteer in temporarily occupied Donetsk region in 2014, Ukraine's National Police reported on August 4.
Prosecutors have notified the suspects in absentia. Two are Ukrainian citizens, while the third is a Russian national.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
According to investigators, on June 22, 2014, members of the so-called “military commandant's office of Antratsyt” transferred the volunteer to fighters from the Bezler group. She was taken from temporarily occupied Luhansk region to Russian-occupied Horlivka, where she was held in the seized building of the Organized Crime Control Department.
The facility, referred to by investigators as the “NKVD torture chamber,” was used by Russian-backed forces to unlawfully detain civilians and prisoners of war, subjecting them to torture and psychological abuse.
Upon her arrival, one of the suspects assaulted the volunteer in an attempt to obtain information about her humanitarian activities.
Investigators said the woman was later transferred to the occupied prosecutor's office building in Horlivka, where individuals with pro-Ukrainian views were unlawfully detained and tortured. The suspects demanded access to her social media accounts in an effort to identify people she had assisted and gather information about support provided to Ukrainian service members.
According to the National Police, investigators established the direct involvement of the three suspects in the abuse. They are accused of subjecting the volunteer to physical and psychological violence, inflicting multiple injuries and permanent harm, and committing sexual violence.
Authorities said the abuse was intended not only to extract information but also to punish the woman for assisting Ukrainian troops and helping evacuate civilians from Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
After the torture, the volunteer was not released. Instead, she continued to be held without legal grounds in the occupied prosecutor's office building in Horlivka, where she remained in captivity for more than three months until September 2014.
According to investigators, the woman had delivered food, clothing, and equipment to Ukrainian military personnel and helped evacuate women and children from Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
She was initially detained on June 20, 2014, together with three acquaintances at a checkpoint near Rovenky by members of the so-called Don Cossack formations, who later handed them over to the commandant's office in Antratsyt.
Investigators said that while in captivity in Luhansk region, she was unlawfully detained, beaten, intimidated, threatened with death, and subjected to sexual violence.
The three Bezler group members are suspected of cruel treatment of civilians, torture, sexual violence, unlawful imprisonment of a civilian, and other violations of the laws and customs of war committed by a group acting in prior conspiracy. The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 12 years’ imprisonment.
In total, investigators have now identified seven members of two separate illegal armed groups allegedly responsible for the victim's unlawful detention, torture, and sexual violence in occupied parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Overall, Russia employs 695 documented methods of torture against Ukrainian prisoners of war, ranging from physical and psychological abuse to sexual violence.
Discuss this article:
-ba0c88cce2b104c214e60e2714dca2fd.png "Russian FPV drone hunts a civilian vendor at a market in Kherson moments before the man was wounded in the attack. (Source: Ukraine's National Police in the Kherson region)")