Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to spend the rest of his life in a basement using a bucket instead of a toilet, a practice Russian forces have used repeatedly against Ukrainian civilians.

Zelenskiy made the comments during a visit Monday to a village in northern Ukraine where Russian troops held Ukrainian civilians in inhumane conditions in the early days of the invasion.

Last April, when Ukrainian soldiers were liberating the village, they discovered a school basement where the Russians held about 400 residents captive for 27 days. During the detention in the basement, 11 people died. It is noted that the area around Kharkov was under the occupation of Russian troops for months. Russian troops withdrew from there in early September after a Ukrainian counterattack.

On the anniversary of the liberation, Zelensky addressed the locals and thanked them for fighting courageously for their lives. “After seeing all this, I can only wish that Russian President Putin spent the rest of his life in a basement with [έναν] bucket for the toilet,” he said.

“Ukraine was expected in the dark”

“These people somehow lived and waited for Ukraine in the dark,” said Zelensky, who seemed emotional at the anniversary. Zelensky accompanied during a visit to JahidnaVice Chancellor of Germany Robert Hambeck and Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marisa Pejsinović Burić.

Zelensky has made several trips to front-line areas over the past two weeks. At the same time, he thanked Gabek and Buric for their presence and assured that it was important that Ukraine’s allies see the underground.

“It is important that they see it and be in those basements to see if they should help her. Ukraine or keep thinking about how to find a way to talk to her Russia“, he stressed.

Zelensky said that Russian troops and the country’s leadership, including the president Vladimir Putinare responsible for the tragedy.

Moscow denies all accusations

Moscow, which has said it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine, has denied committing war crimes or targeting civilians.

Established in May 2022 by the humanitarian law firm Global Rights Compliance with the support of international experts, the Mobile Justice Team supports Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office as it reviews more than 71,000 war crimes reports across the country since the February 24, 2022 invasion. .

Witnesses spoke about the use of electric shock and water torture by Russian troops. At least 1,000 survivors of the torture chambers have testified to investigators, and more than 400 people are reported missing in Kherson, the organization said in a statement.

The funding for the network of torture centers was part of the Russian state’s plan to “subdue, re-educate or kill Ukrainian political leaders and rank-and-file dissidents,” the group said in a statement.

The statement said the torture centers were operated by various Russian security services, including the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the local Kherson FSB and the Russian penitentiary service.

Source: Politico, Reuters.