Russians 'electrocuting genitals' of prisoners in Ukraine 'torture chambers'
Russian soldiers used rape, suffocation and waterboarding in their grim torture play book as they brutailed detainees in southern Ukraine, it has been claimed.
After the analysis of 35 "torture chambers" in the country's southern Kherson region, it emerged that horrendous sexual abuses had been perpetrated by the Kremlin's troops. A shocking new report compiled by Global Rights Compliance details how the twisted soldiers raped their prisoners with foreign objects and carried out electrocution on their genitals in a "systematic plan to not only degrade and humiliate but also to eradicate Ukrainian identity".
"Sexual violence has been – and continues to be – used against Ukrainian people from all sections of society,’ Anna Mykytenko, a senior legal adviser at the firm, told Metro. "This and other crimes indicate a total disregard for international law by Russian forces operating on Ukrainian soil. There is no doubt that survivors of these atrocities will bear the long term mental scars following their experiences in the detention centres."
Some of the electronic equipment used to toture Ukrainian civilians (AP)Ms Mykytenko added that though it's going to be difficult to find the survivors, the process to identify the sick perpetrators is underway as she promised "justice" for the Ukrainian people. "Impunity is not an option", she added.
The legal firm set up the Mobile Justice Team in April 2022, shortly after journalists revealed the horrific atrocities in Bucha, a small town on the outskirts of Kyiv. However, much of the team's work has been Kherson Oblast, which was liberated from Russian tyranny in October last year. They currently have 320 active detention cases, a massive 43 per cent of whom claim that sexual assault was commonly employed by their Russian captors.
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Many said the Russians sexually assaulted them, with rape with a foreign object also listed as one of their sick tactics (Kyodo)Another 36 individuals say they were subjected to genital electrocution and others claim the Russians threatened to mutilate their private parts. Wayne Jordash KC, co-founder of Global Rights Compliance, added: "The torture and sexual violence tactics suggests that Putin’s plan to extinguish Ukrainian identity includes a range of crimes evocative of genocide.
"At the very least, the pattern that we are observing is consistent with a cynical and calculated plan to humiliate and terrorise millions of Ukrainian citizens in order to subjugate them to the diktat of the Kremlin." Last month, it was revealed how one heartbroken mum spoke to her beloved child - who was cruelly tortured by Russian officials - just moments before he was gunned down in a firefight.
A handwritten calendar decorates the wall of a building in which Ukrainian civilians say they were detained and tortured in Kherson (AP)Tihran Ohannisian and his classmate Mykyta Khananov, both just 16 years old, became national heroes after a video of them yelling their last words - "Farewell! Glory to Ukraine" - went viral in June.
Though Russia maintains the two "terrorist" 16-year-olds were killed for murdering a civilian, a European Parliament resolution has ruled the pair died as the climax of an ongoing feud with the Vladimir Putin-backing puppet government of Berdyansk that saw them arrested, detained and tortured. In September last year, dozens of soldiers raided Tihran grandma's home, seizing money, computer equipment and even food in connection with the sabotage of a railway line used to transport troops to the frontline.
His grandma pleaded with the men not to take him, but her petition was met with cruelty as one soldier struck the elderly woman with the butt of his rifle, Tihran's lawyer Andrii Yakovliev claims. While in custody, the teenager was subjected to five days of gruelling interrogation as the pro-Putin forces used electricity and vicious beatings to elicit a confession.
If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Victim Support for free, confidential advice on 08 08 16 89 111 or visit their website, www.victimsupport.org.uk.
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