[ad_1]
A former Ukrainian soldier has revealed the horrific torture he endured at the hands of Russian soldiers as Vladimir Putin’s illegal war continues to rage. Dmytro, who is using a pseudonym, told how four Russian soldiers strapped him to a chair and electrocuted him for seven sessions lasting for up to two hours.
While being held in a railway station, Dmytro told The Times how the torture saw Russian soldiers apply electric shocks to his genitals and groin through crocodile clips, which made the skin on his thigh smoulder due to the cable being at such a high voltage.
The former soldier, who is from Kozacha Lopan in Kharkiv, recently liberated by Ukraine, told the newspaper: “At one point I began slamming my head against the floor to end it.
“The soldiers threatened me with more electrocution if I harmed myself. They said I didn’t get a choice in how to die.
“Anyone who refused to work due to their injuries was taken away and given more electrocution.
“We would hear them screaming. Then we would see them back in the work queue the next day saying ‘I am eager to work immediately.’ ”
The torture lasted four days.
READ MORE: Russia tensions lead Britain to cut troops in Estonia
The former soldier, who left the military in 2020, was then relocated at an improvised detention centre on the Russian border, where he filled sandbags as part of work in a labour gang.
After a month there, Dmytro was eventually released back into his occupied home town.
Dmytro’s horrifying account will add to further evidence Russia is responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.
It comes after United Nations investigators concluded Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine, including bombings of civilian areas, numerous executions, torture and sexual violence.
The UN has made the investigation of human rights violations in the war a priority and in May its top human rights body mandated a team of experts to begin work in the country.
Erik Mose, chair of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva: “In the cases we have investigated, the age of victims of sexual and gendered-based violence ranged from four to 82 years.
“The commission has documented cases in which children have been raped, tortured, and unlawfully confined.
“Children have also been killed and injured in indiscriminate attacks with explosive weapons.”
[ad_2]
