network at least 20 torture chambers in its recently liberated southern Ukrainian region Peninsula was “planned and directly funded by the Russian state,” war crimes investigators said today, citing new evidence.

OUR Mobile Justice Teamwhich is funded by the UK, the EU and the US, works with Ukrainian war crimes prosecutors around the world. Ukraine And in Kherson as the area was retaken by Russian forces in November after more than eight months of occupation.

His press office Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment on this issue.

Reuters reported on the scale of the torture chambers in Kherson in January, when Ukrainian authorities said that ca. 200 people were allegedly tortured in 10 places.. The survivors told Reuters that they were tortured in various ways, including electric shocks and suffocation.

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

A mobile justice team formed in May 2022 by a humanitarian law firm. Global Enforcement and supported by international experts, says Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, which has been reviewing more than 71,000 war crimes reports across the country since the February 24, 2022 invasion.

“New evidence gathered in the recently liberated Kherson shows that the torture chambers were designed and funded directly by the Russian state,” the group set up by the British lawyer said in a statement. Wayne Jordans.

Witnesses spoke about the use of electric shock and water torture by Russian troops. At least 1000 torture chamber survivors provided evidence to investigators, and more than 400 people are unaccounted for in Kherson, the group 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.

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

Reuters was unable to verify these claims.

It is also under investigation by the International Criminal Court as part of domestic and international efforts to bring to justice those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide on the territory of Ukraine.

Reuters