It came as Ukraine announced it had discovered at least 63 bodies of civilians allegedly killed and tortured by Russian forces in the Kherson region. “Their investigators examine and document every case of torture, uncover evidence and exhume bodies of the dead,” said Interior Minister Denis Monastirski. However, he warned that the work to uncover suspected Russian crimes has only just begun. “We are fully aware that months of occupation by Russian troops did not leave towns and civilians untouched, so we are likely to find more places of torture and more burial places for the victims,” Mr Monastyrsky said. Ukrainian police had so far uncovered at least 11 illegal prisons in Kherson, including four sites where prisoners were tortured, he added.
“President Zelensky, here we come”
The police station on Teploenerhetykiv Street is among those now being treated as a major crime scene by Ukrainian prosecutors, who arrived after Russian troops withdrew from Kherson last week. In some of the trash in the cell building, they are said to have found chairs with metal shackles attached and a device with a dial like an old-fashioned telephone that emits electric shocks. On the station’s outbuildings, Russian graffiti declared: “President Zelensky, here we come.” A framed photo of Vladimir Putin that had hung on a wall lay shattered on the ground. Maxim was lucky, by all accounts, to be around to tell his story. Volodymyr Kaluga, Kherson’s senior prosecutor, said investigations had been launched into 869 cases in which people had been detained and tortured. So far, however, only 480 of the alleged victims have been found. Asked if he knows what has happened to the others, he replied: “Unfortunately not.”
