War in Ukraine: Kievans claim to have discovered at least four places of torture in Kherson

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Monday it had uncovered four “torture sites” used by the Russians in Kherson during their occupation of the city, documenting some more of the wartime violations.

“In Kherson, the prosecutor’s office continues to establish the crimes of Russia: places of torture have been installed in four buildings,” the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office said in a Telegram message. According to the prosecutor’s office, Ukrainian investigators visited “four” houses, where “during the capture of the city, the invaders illegally detained people and brutally tortured them.” There were police departments and pre-trial detention centers, where “pseudo-law enforcement agencies” were created.

Pieces of rubber clubs, a wooden bat, a device with which the Russians tortured civilians with electric current, an incandescent lamp, and bullets stuck in the walls were found. In the basement of one of the sites, Ukrainian officials “found a part of a metal-plastic pipe, handcuffs,” the report says. People in cells and basements were subjected to various methods of torture, physical and psychological abuse.

“The work to establish places of dungeons and illegal detention of people continues,” the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine said, adding that they also want to “identify all the victims.”

On Thursday, Dmytro Lubinets, head of the Ukrainian parliament for human rights, alarmed the population by denouncing on national television the “terrible extent” of torture inflicted by the Russians on Ukrainians in Kherson. “Dozens of people” were “killed with electric shock, beaten with metal pipes. Their bones were broken,” and “the Russians filmed it all,” he accused.

Like many allegations, they are not currently independently verifiable. Since the liberation of Kherson by its troops on November 11, Kyiv has repeatedly condemned Russian “war crimes” and “atrocities” in the Kherson region. Moscow does not comment, but on Friday Russia accused Ukrainian soldiers of killing 11 of its soldiers, who laid down their arms. Kyiv claims that these soldiers were killed after a false surrender, while his own soldiers defended themselves.

“Naturally, Russia itself will look for those who committed this crime. They need to be found and punished,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

The New York Times attempted to analyze videos posted on social media related to these executions. The videos, authenticated by The New York Times, provide a rare glimpse into one of the many horrific moments of the war, but fail to show how or why Russian soldiers were killed. Ultimately, they leave a mystery that both sides have used in an online battle for hearts and minds.