“Putin’s call”: UN experts told how Russians torture captured Ukrainians
Bestial hatred and inhuman violence is the main face of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Russian occupiers use various types of torture on Ukrainian prisoners, which they call “denazification session.” This is stated in the report of the Independent International Commission of Investigation of Violations in Ukraine at the UN.
The document states that torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian citizens detained in the occupied territory by Russian security forces are widespread and systematic.
“In areas that came under their control, the Russian authorities committed deliberate killings of civilians or persons not involved in hostilities,” the report says.
The Commission found that the occupiers are quite “widely practicing” the illegal detention of “broad categories of men, women and children” in the occupied territory. At the same time, the invaders use particularly sophisticated torture against active or former servicemen of Ukraine.
During interrogations, victims were handcuffed or handcuffed, their feet were tied, their eyes were covered with a hood or tape, bags or clothes were put on their heads. Such interrogations were accompanied by severe beatings, which the occupiers themselves call a “denazification session.”
The prisoners were beaten with rifle butts and batons, they were subjected to electric shockers, sexual violence was used, and they were left in the cold for a long time. In some cases, “torture was accompanied by executions.”
“One of these methods (torture) was electric shock using a military telephone, known as a ‘tapik’, connected to an electric cable with clamps on the legs, fingers or genitals of men. The occupiers called this “Lenin’s call” or “Putin’s call” , the report says.
One of the former captives said that he was beaten simply because he “spoke Ukrainian” or because he “did not remember the words of the anthem of the Russian Federation.”
The report emphasizes that the same methods of torture are practiced throughout the occupied territory, which speaks of the “systematic and widespread” nature of these actions.
Torture as a method of warfare by Russia
The Russian occupiers have created an extensive network of so-called “torture” in all the occupied territories. International investigators believe these were not local initiatives, but part of a planned Russian strategy.
Not only Ukrainians who managed to break free, but also citizens of other countries tell about torture in Russian captivity. The released British soldier Sean Pinner, who defended Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and was taken prisoner by Russia, told the British media about the inhuman treatment of the occupiers.
At the same time, the violence on the part of the Russians, although systemic, is often simply senseless. For example, the clergyman Vasily Vyrozub, who was captured by Russia, told how the Russians tried to beat out information about “where Bandera is hiding” from him.