A cross standing on the floor and prayers of tortured prisoners scratched on the walls saying: "God, give us strength", "Pray to God for us", and "Lord God, save and preserve" were found in the dungeons of Kherson.
According to the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubynets, in the territories of the Kherson region liberated from Russian troops, they found dungeons where even teenagers were held, reports CREDO citing Radio Liberty.
People were tortured in the basements of private homes, educational institutions, as well as in a grocery store.
11 places of detention were identified, including four dungeons where those who refused to cooperate with the invaders were held captive. According to the Ombudsman, residents of the Kherson region were subjected to more severe methods of torture than in those regions that were previously under occupation, i.e. Kharkiv region, Kyiv region, and Chernihiv region. In particular, according to Dmytro Lubynets, based on the testimony of people who stayed in dungeons in the Kherson region, it was established that men and women were kept together.
Another difference he called the fact that video cameras were installed in each cell for surveillance. "Such round-the-clock video surveillance was recorded with sound. This is emphasized separately by our citizens who were subjected to torture, and explain that they clearly understood this. As soon as Kherson residents started talking about the occupation, masked men immediately ran into the cells and beat everyone severely," Lubinets wrote on Facebook.
"The third difference: there was a separate cell where teenagers were kept. We are now establishing their age. People say that some guys looked about 14 years old. And the cross that I showed in the video was made by a 19-year-old boy who was here in the dungeon. In other areas, we found no cameras for children or teenagers. But here, it didn't work," he added.
In the dungeons, those who were able to do this prayed for the children, for helping the country and the army. As in Volchansk, liberated in early October, prisoners scratched icons of saints and prayer words on the dungeons' walls.
"We saw these inscriptions on the walls with our own eyes. Icons were carved out with their bare hands by people who were kept there by the invaders. There were signs of the days they survived through and texts of prayers. It is hard to imagine what horrors people suffered," said Pavlo Sushko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy.
Dmytro Lubynets also noted that we are witnessing obvious suppression of public resistance with elements of war crimes against humanity. According to him, in terms of international humanitarian law, the deterioration of the treatment of civilians in Ukraine is taking place. "These are the worst and most cynical manifestations of violation of the Geneva Conventions…
Despite the fact that they hid their faces from Kherson residents behind masks, we know that our people were tortured by representatives of the Rosgvardiya and soldiers of the Russian army. Our competent authorities will definitely identify all the criminals," the commissioner said.