Ukrainian police have found 80 Russian torture chambers in occupied regions

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Kateryna Pavlichenko said that the police found 80 Russian torture and detention facilities in Ukraine.

She made the report during a meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, Alice Jill Edwards.

Most of the Ukrainian territories are occupied. However, we found detention and torture chambers in the de-occupied territories, where civilians were illegally held. Police have already identified 80 such places  on the territory of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv and Sumy regions, Pavlichenko said.

Investigators recently discovered another torture chamber in Bucha, where the Russian military illegally detained 151 people during the occupation on March 3-7, 2022. The invaders did not give people medicine, food, and water.

We cannot forget that many servicemen and rescuers are still in captivity. Their relatives do not have proper access to information about their content. Civilians are also in Russian captivity. In fact, they are hostages. All these issues require special attention of the international community! Pavlichenko added.

The investigators of the national police opened over 80,000 criminal proceedings on Russia's military on Ukraine's territory.

Among the challenges faced by law enforcement officers during the investigation, Pavlichenko called the lack of access to the occupied territories,  necessary equipment for research, and a multiplying number of war crimes.

Human rights activists have recorded over 50,000 Russia's crimes since the start of the aggression in 2014.

On March 23, The Hague Criminal Court signed an agreement on opening a representative office of the ICC in Ukraine.