Russians in the Kherson region kidnap civilians and demand a ransom from their families for their release

The Russians in the temporarily captured part of the Kherson region detain local residents, and then demand a ransom from their families for release from captivity.

This was reported by the First Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Regional Council Yuriy Sobolevskyi: “We are seeing more and more reports that indicate that for Russian law enforcement agencies, detention in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is just business,” Sobolevskyi said.

He clarified that the Russians are looking for people whose families have money. Then this person is detained and made up that he is an extremist, cooperates with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), provides information to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“And then the Russians are just waiting for a relative to come and actually buy the prisoner,” he added.

Earlier, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine cases of kidnapping of the pro-Ukrainian population were recorded, as well as the construction of new torture camps for their detention.

In particular, Russian terrorists set up one of these torture chambers on the territory of a school in the village of Velyki Kopani, Kherson region. Russians keep detained people in inhumane conditions and torture them.

After the liberation of the village of Bilyaivka, Berislav district, Kherson region, a Russian torture chamber was discovered. The military of the Russian Federation arranged it on the second floor of the Bilyaiv school. There was also a headquarters in the educational institution.

Elizaveta Sokurenko, coordinator of the war crimes documentation department of the ZMINA Human Rights Center, said this during the briefing.

There, the Russians illegally detained at least 20 Ukrainians for five months (from the beginning of April to the end of September 2022). People were brought from the surrounding villages. The main reason they were detained, according to eyewitnesses, were accusations of allegedly adjusting fire and cooperation with the Armed Forces. Four of the prisoners died: two due to torture, two more after release.

The approximate size of the room was 6 by 3 m, there were no windows, lighting and toilet. On average, eight to 13 people were in the room at the same time during the entire period. For the entire time, the illegally detained were never taken out to the shower. For food, they gave liquid soup or stew in cans, sometimes bread. Once every 1-2 days, they gave everyone a five-liter bottle of drinking water. Psychological violence was also used, there were two cases of simulated execution, and castration was threatened. The Russians physically tortured 12 people, in particular, with an electric current connected to their genitals.