A group of Ukrainians and international lawyers, led by a British lawyer, have found evidence suggesting that the Russian torture centers in Kherson in southern Ukraine were not accidental but were deliberately and directly funded by the Russian government, The Guardian reported. The city was under Russian control for eight months, from March 2 last year until Ukrainian forces invaded on November 11, 2022.
On Thursday, a group of lawyers known as the Mobile Justice Team revealed they had investigated 20 torture chambers. in Kherson and noted that these were not isolated incidents, but a deliberate plan to intimidate, control and eradicate the Ukrainian resistance and Ukrainian identity. The team's evidence analysis, compiled by Ukrainian prosecutors, included blueprints used by Russian President Vladimir Putin's occupying forces to set up, monitor and fund the 20,
torture centers in Kherson.
"Russian state-funded mass torture chambers are no accident, but part of a carefully conceived and funded plan with the clear aim of erasing Ukraine's national and cultural identity," British lawyer Wayne Jordash, who leads the team, told The Guardian.
,
lawyers have explained that the torture centers were run by Russian security services, including the FSB and the Russian Prison Service, and local collaborators. Its purpose was to control, indoctrinate or eliminate Ukrainian citizen leaders and ordinary people who opposed Russian influence.
Those detained included people with ties to the Ukrainian government or civil society, such as activists, journalists, civil servants and teachers. Other victims said they were randomly stopped in the street and arrested for having material labeled "pro-Ukrainian" on their cellphones.
According to lawyers, the male and female detainees were subjected to physical abuse, including beatings, electric shocks and waterboarding.The prisoners were also forced to memorize and recite pro-Russian slogans, poems and songs.
The fate of more than 400 people who disappeared during the occupation is unknown as it is unclear whether they were killed or taken to Russia.
“Putin's plan is to occupy Ukraine, subject the Ukrainian population to Russian rule and destroy Ukrainian identity. That plan will become clearer as the evidence of war crimes mounts and our investigation advances,” Jordash said.
