The most brutal torture chamber that Russian troops established during the temporary occupation of Kherson was the one operating in the premises of Temporary Detention Facility No. 1.
This was reported to Ukrinform by Oleksii Butenko, head of the Department for Countering Crimes Committed in Conditions of Armed Conflict at the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
According to him, the torture site operated from March to October 2022. Initially its activities were coordinated by the Deputy Head of the Rosgvardiya Directorate for Rostov Oblast, Police Colonel Oleksandr Naumenko. From July 2022 the commander became the Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Krasnoyarsk Krai and head of the so‑called “Temporary Administration of the Russian Interior Ministry for the Kherson Oblast”, Police Major General Yurii Zavyalov.
The Russian servicemen and occupation police officers under their command illegally detained people, systematically beat them, and subjected them to electric shock torture.
The exact number of people who were held in the torture site is currently unknown. 241 people have already been recognized as victims, including 28 women.
The investigation established that Russian occupiers committed acts of sexual violence against 39 men and two women, including electric shock torture. One case of rape has also been documented. At least two men are known to have been tortured to death in the torture site.
Those taken to the places of illegal detention included residents of Kherson region with an active pro‑Ukrainian stance — volunteers, former servicemen, ATO participants, law enforcement officers and their relatives. People were held from several hours to several months, with the aim of suppressing the resistance movement, obtaining information of interest to Russian military, and forcing cooperation with the occupation “authorities”.
As a result of the investigation, 11 indictments concerning 25 Russian servicemen have been sent to court.