The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch has accused the Russian army of torture, illegal detention and enforced disappearance of civilians in the occupied territories of southern Ukraine. We are talking about Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
In the latest report, the human rights organization stated that the mentioned violations are war crimes.
"Russian troops have turned the occupied territories in the south of Ukraine into an abyss of fear and wild lawlessness," HRW representative Yuliya Gorbunova said, adding that human rights activists are documenting the facts of such violence.
"The Russian authorities must immediately stop such abuses and understand that they can and will be held accountable," Gorbunova emphasized.
The report was written on the basis of communication with 71 residents of Kherson, Melitopol, Berdyansk, Skadovsk, and another 10 cities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
Witnesses described 42 cases when Russian troops arbitrarily detained civilians, in some cases without contact with the outside world, tortured many of them, and some of the detainees disappeared. Three servicemen of the territorial defense, who had the status of prisoners of war, were also tortured. Two of them died, according to HRW.
Torture methods included prolonged beatings, sometimes with baseball bats, and electric shocks, which often resulted in injuries including broken ribs and other bones, severe burns, concussions, cuts, and bruises.
Released victims cannot walk normally even after treatment.
"Ukrainians in the occupied territories are going through hellish trials. The Russian authorities should immediately investigate war crimes and other abuses by their forces in these areas, and international investigative bodies should also conduct investigations to bring the perpetrators to justice."
Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, told HRW that, according to human rights activistsʼ estimates, at least 600 people have disappeared since the start of the unprovoked full-scale invasion.