Nine men abducted from Kherson and tortured for 'confessions' are now again facing torture in Russian SIZO-1 in Rostov, which is rapidly becoming as notorious as the Taganrog prison where 27-year-old journalist Victoria Roshchyna died
The nine men from Kherson Photo Memorial
The nine men from Kherson Photo Memorial
Although all Russian and Russian occupation prisons have appalling conditions, some have been especially notorious for their torture of Ukrainian political prisoners and prisoners of war [POW]. One of the worst, at least until recently, was SIZO-2 in Taganrog. It was there that 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna died, almost certainly from torture and emaciation, with Russia still refusing to hand over her body. It was also the remand prison to which Hryhory Sinchenko, one of the most systematically and savagely tortured of Russia’s Ukrainian political prisoners, was moved in the summer of 2024, very clearly to force him to reject his independent lawyer. Similar methods have long been used in occupied Crimea with independent lawyers clearly an impediment where the only ‘evidence’ against a person is a ‘confession’ extracted through torture.
Mediazona reports that, until recently, prisoners themselves were threatened with being moved to the Taganrog SIZO, which was notorious for its systematic torture and ill-treatment. At the time, the publication says, the SIZOs in neighbouring Rostov seemed almost models of treatment.
This is no longer the case, with Mediazona reporting that the situation in SIZO-1 in Rostov changed in the middle of January 2025. Ukrainian prisoners are beaten, forced to sing the Russian anthem and face reprisals if their lawyers lodge complaints.
Here too, one of the motives for torturing prisoners is to force them to reject the services of their independent lawyers. This was seen, for example, in the case of the ‘Kherson Nine’. As reported, Oleh Bohdanov; Serhiy Heidt; Serhiy Kabakov; Yuriy Kayov; Serhiy Kovalsy; Denys Lialka; Serhiy Ofitserov; Konstiantyn Reznik and Yuriy Tavozhniansky were abducted by the Russians from Kherson while it was under occupation. This is one of Russia’s extraordinary ‘international terrorism’ show trials, for which ‘confessions’ were doubtlessly obtained through torture. This had, in fact, been confirmed by Yuriy Kayov even before the so-called ‘trial’ at Russia’s Southern District Military Court began at the beginning of 2024.
Mediazona reports that, during the hearing on 30 January 2025 in this show trial, presiding ‘judge’ Kirill Nikolaevich Krivtsov announced two reports, dated 20 and 21 January, which had reached the court by post from SIZO-1. According to these documents, two of the nine defendants had rejected the services of their separate lawyers, using identical wording to justify such a ‘decision’.
In court, however, the two defendants rejected these reports and asked the court to not take them into account. They said that since the middle of January 2025, Ukrainians held in SIZO-1 in Rostov had been subjected to violence on a daily basis, with the men beaten during every ‘check’.
The lawyers had learned of this on 20 January when the lawyer of one of the two men, identified only as ‘A’, arrived at the SIZO. ‘A’ was brought in by the spetsnaz officers and placed in a cell. His lawyer arrived and asked what had happened. He told her by lifting up his top so that she could see the bruises all over his chest. She immediately raised a fuss which resulted solely in the lawyer being thrown out of the SIZO. And, of course, in the illegal methods to force A into saying that he did not want her to represent him. He was initially taken downstairs and told that if he talked about what was going on and complained, he would be taken to a place from where he would never be released in an exchange and where he would be subjected to anal rape. “I wrote the rejection of my lawyer’ services.” A told the court, continuing “The next day, I was again beaten during the check. And each day, the check begins with us being beaten on the cuff of the neck. We bend and for around an hour sing the Russian anthem.” He added that they were beaten with batons around the back and also said that none of the men had been able to prepare for the hearing. The men are suffering health palpitations from the pressure they are being put under. There are 70 men on their floor in the SIZO, with the repression against them going on for two weeks. A also said that he had been forced, through the same methods, to give a false complaint against his lawyer, claiming that she had wanted to rip a chevron off one of the enforcement officers.
His testimony was confirmed by two other defendants, one of whom, addressing the court, said: “the entire prosecution began with torture and you yourself can see what it consists of. And this torture is continuing to this day.”
It is, in fact, clear from the court website that earlier complaints have also been made.
Mediazona adds that it became clear after this hearing that Ukrainian prisoners have previously complained of such violence in SIZO-1. One of the lawyers told the journalists that she had taken part in another case involving Ukrainians with the latter confirming that they had witnessed how A’s ‘report to the court by post’ had been obtained. The lawyer pointed out to the court that all of this had been recorded in a protocol (of the complaint), and specifically the fact that her client had written the statement rejecting her services under threat of anal rape. She noted also that, since A’s report was No. 21, and B’s – 28, it was likely that there were, in fact, nine such statements with absolutely identical wording.
The lawyer detailed other ways in which their work and, therefore, their clients’ right to a fair trial, are constantly obstructed by the staff of the SIZO. She told the court that during her last visit, her client appeared to be suffering from bruised ribs or, in all likelihood, even something broken.
The lawyers asked the court to issue a separate ruling with respect to the head of the SIZO and also to adjourn the hearing as the men were simply not in a state to continue given the treatment they are enduring. A also pointed out that all his material for the ‘trial’ had been taken away, that the treatment they were receiving was like something out of the middle ages.
The prosecutor Sergei Aidinov and, at least, presiding ‘judge’ Kirill Nikolaevich Krivtsov have already been involved in many ‘trials’ and huge sentences against Crimean Tatar and other Ukrainian political prisoners. They did not, unfortunately, surprise on this occasion. Aidinov asked the court to reject the lawyers’ application, claiming them to be based solely on unfounded accusations. Krivtsov, in turn, not only rejected the application to issue a ruling regarding the head of the SIZO, but also refused to call an ambulance so that medical staff could record the men’s bruises, etc. As Mediazona notes, it is pointless to even complain to the authorities of torture and ill-treatment. Hardly surprising, therefore, that the men themselves often avoid doing so because they can expect even worse in reprisal. The lawyers have limited options but at least some are speaking out. They too, it should be stressed, can end up prosecuted or stripped of their licence to practise as punishment for properly representing their clients, as the experience of several lawyers in occupied Crimea has demonstrated.
See also: Russia tortures nine Ukrainians from Kherson for grotesque ‘international terrorism trial’