13 Russian torture chambers confirmed in Kherson, over 1,500 victims identified

This was reported to Ukrinform by Oleksiy Butenko, head of the department for investigating war crimes at the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office.

He said that law enforcement is now investigating around 50 cases where civilians were killed after being tortured.

So far, 13 torture chambers have been found — 11 in areas that Ukraine has taken back and 2 in areas still under Russian control. The crimes include physical and sexual abuse, electric shocks, keeping people in terrible conditions, and the kidnapping of volunteers, activists, and teachers.

One case of torture involved a music teacher from Russian-occupied Kherson. She refused to work with the Russian forces and kept teaching children online using the Ukrainian school program. In August 2022, Russian soldiers searched her home, put bags over her and her husband's heads, and took them to the basement of a captured office building that had been turned into a torture chamber.

There, the woman was badly beaten on the head, arms, and back. She was also tortured with electric shocks, with wires attached to her chest. She spent over a week in total isolation — without food, medical help, or contact with anyone. Before she was released, she was forced to record a fake video and sign unknown documents.

Another victim was a volunteer who delivered food to people in need. She and other civilians were kidnapped and taken to the same torture chamber. She was beaten with hands, feet, and sticks, and tortured with electric shocks using wires connected to her hands. She spent over a month in a tiny cell with little food. Before her release, Russian troops staged a fake shooting, then left her and others in a field outside the city.

In August 2022, a businessman from Kherson was arrested for allegedly helping organize pro-Ukrainian rallies. He was taken to a temporary detention center, where he was brutally tortured during repeated interrogations. This included sexual violence, electric shocks, and rape with foreign objects. After a week, he was released without any explanation or official documents.

Russian forces used torture to force people to cooperate, accept Russian education, or simply to scare them. In many cases, they also demanded ransoms — sometimes as high as hundreds of thousands of hryvnias.

Ukrainian and international groups are now helping the victims. So far, 108 people involved in the torture have been identified. Charges have been filed against 105 of them, and 10 have already been convicted.

"We’re not stopping. The investigation continues. We will do everything we can to make sure that everyone who tortured and abused our people is fairly punished. No crime will be ignored by law enforcement," Butenko said.