KYIV —
Ukraine claimed Monday that it had discovered four Russian torture sites in its
southern city of Kherson, which
Moscow’s forces quit this month leaving behind
a trail of misery and destruction.
اضافة اعلان
The Kremlin meanwhile vowed to track down and punish
those it said were responsible for the “brutal” murder of nearly a dozen
Russian servicemen who were allegedly surrendering to Kyiv.
Russian defense officials made the “difficult”
decision earlier this month to retreat from Kherson city, the only regional
capital Moscow’s forces had won after nearly nine months of fighting in
Ukraine.
Kyiv accused the withdrawing forces of rendering
useless key infrastructure including water and electricity stations in Kherson,
whose loss is a strategic and symbolic blow for the Kremlin.
But on Monday,
Kyiv also said Moscow had run a
network of torture sites in the city, building on claims that Russian
authorities had perpetrated abuses on a “horrific” scale there.
“Together with police officers and experts,
(prosecutors) conducted inspections of four premises where, during the capture
of the city, the occupiers illegally detained people and brutally tortured
them,” the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said in a statement.
Russian forces had also set up “pseudo-law enforcement
agencies” at detention centers in Kherson as well as in a police station,
prosecutors said in a statement.
‘Horrific’ torture
The remains of rubber
truncheons, a wooden bat and “a device with which the occupiers tortured
civilians with electricity” were found, prosecutors statement said.
Russian authorities also left behind paperwork
documenting the administration of the detention sites, its office added.
The allegations are just the latest from Kyiv
against Russian troops, who have been accused of running similar abuse
operations in places like Izyium in east Ukraine and near Kyiv.
In both those places, Russian troops were forced
back by Ukrainian counterattacks and the recent recapture of Kherson is just
the latest in a string of bruising defeats for Moscow.
Last week Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubynets said
Russian forces were responsible for “horrific” torture in Kherson, saying
dozens were abused in detention and more were killed.
And AFP spoke last week to a Kherson resident who
said he spent weeks in detention where he was beaten and electrocuted by
Russian and pro-Russian forces.
But the Kremlin has also come forward recently with
allegations of abuses perpetrated by Ukrainian troops, and on Monday vowed to
hold responsible people they accused of killing Russian troops trying to
surrender.
“Without a doubt, Russia will itself search for
those who committed this crime. They must be found and punished,” Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
‘Methodical murder’
He was referring to video footage that began circulating on social
media last week and which Moscow contends is compelling evidence that Kyiv’s
troops murdered nearly a dozen Russian soldiers in east Ukraine.
The Russian
defense ministry said last week that the videos showed the “deliberate and
methodical” killing of over 10 servicemen.
Ukraine has
denied that its forces had killed prisoners of war, saying the soldiers were
shot following a false surrender.
The UN said last
week it had been made aware of the videos and was looking into them. A report
it released earlier last week said there were credible allegations of abuses
committed by both sides.
Russia’s
Human Rights Council said the alleged executions took place in Makiivka, a village in
the eastern Lugansk region, which the Ukrainian army said it had recaptured
last week.
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