This was published 2 years ago
War crimes in Ukraine - The Torture Cell
20 ImagesSurvivors reveal torture, beatings and killings they have endured and witnessed in Ukrainian basements. It is a war crime to inflict torture or inhumane treatment, wilfully cause great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deport or transfer or unlawful confinement against persons, according to the Geneva Convention.
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1/20
Civilian computer technician Olekdsndr Fayizov, 41, show bloodstains where Russian soldiers beat his head against the wall of a room used as a cell in the basement of the Trostyanets railway station. The Russians used the railway station as a base during their occupation of the town.Credit:Kate Geraghty
2/20
The partially destroyed Trostyanets railway station, where local civilian men were interrogated and tortured by Russian soldiers in basement rooms used as cells. Credit:Kate Geraghty
3/20
Olekdsndr Fayizov recounts his experience of being interrogated and tortured by Russian soldiers. During his time in captivity he endured eight mock executions, broken ribs, had his head beaten against a wall, and witnessed the death of another civilian.Credit:Kate Geraghty
4/20
Two men walk past a ruined Soviet tank monument and destroyed and looted buildings in the small town of Trostyanets, north-eastern Ukraine, approximately 30 kilometres from the Russian border. Trostyanets was under Russian occupation for 31 days, and some civilians were detained and tortured. Now the buildings have been shelled, services impacted and roads and cemeteries mined. Credit:Kate Geraghty
5/20
Valentin Barannyk inspects the bullet hole in his right buttock where he was shot while detained and interrogated by Russian forces who had occupied his town of Trostyanets. Credit:Kate Geraghty
6/20
One of the many destroyed and looted buildings in Trostyanets. Some of the civilian population were detained and tortured by Russian forces, and the number of civilians killed is unclear.Credit:Kate Geraghty
7/20
Valentin Barannyk demonstrates how his arms and hands were bound while he was detained and interrogated by Russian soldiers occupying Trostyanets. Credit:Kate Geraghty
8/20
Valentin Barannyk reveals permanent scarring on his wrists from having his hands bound when detained and interrogated by Russian soldiers. He was shot through the right buttock and sustained other injuries including three ribs broken, an injured forehead and a broken nose. Soldiers shot over his ear while he was being interrogated in a mock execution.Credit:Kate Geraghty
9/20
The school in Yahidne which was partially destroyed by shelling. Russian forces occupied the village and forcibly held 371 people in the basement of the school for 25 days. Ten people died due to the conditions in the basement.Credit:Kate Geraghty
10/20
The back of a door in a basement room at the school in Yahidne shows a calendar of the 25 days 371 residents of the town were detained. On the left of the door is a list of names and dates of death of seven people shot by Russian soldiers, and on the right is a list of the 10 people who died due to conditions in the basement. Credit:Kate Geraghty
11/20
Standing in her garden in Yahidne, Nadiya Tereshchenko 65, recounts the moment she prayed on seeing liberating Ukranian soldiers after being held in the basement of a school for 25 days with 370 other people from her village. Her neighbour was the first of 10 people to die in the basement due to the conditions and lack of oxygen. Credit:Kate Geraghty
12/20
Nadiya Tereshchenko (in red jumper) is among the residents of Yahidne seen inside the basement of a school, a day after Russian troops left. Residents continued to sleep in the basement of the school as their houses had been destroyed.Credit:OLHA MENIAYLO
13/20
Ivan, 62, sits in his chair, one of four that were his family's area while being held in the basement of a school for 25 days.Credit:Kate Geraghty
14/20
A teddy bear lies on child's bunk bed in a school basement in Yahidne where 371 people from the village were imprisoned by occupying Russian forces. Credit:Kate Geraghty
15/20
Children's drawings and messages 'No to war' (left) and 'Hello' (right) on a wall of one of the rooms in a school basement in Yahidne where 371 people from the village were held. Credit:Kate Geraghty
16/20
Rubbish, including human faeces, left behind by Russian soldiers during their retreat at a school used as a base, and where they held 371 people prisoner in the basement for 25 days.Credit:Kate Geraghty
17/20
On the left panel of the blackboard the Russian soldiers mark the day they occupied the school in Yahidne, 16 March 2022, alongside codenames. On the right panel, Ukrainian soldiers mark the day they liberated the 371 people from the school, and the message 'Thank God we're home'. Credit:Kate Geraghty
18/20
One of the homes destroyed by Russian shelling in the village of Yahidne.Credit:Kate Geraghty
19/20
Residents walk past the remains of a destroyed building in the village of Yahidne. Credit:Kate Geraghty
20/20
A bouquet of flowers and a shot of vodka sits atop an unmarked fresh grave at the cemetery in Yahidne. Credit:Kate Geraghty
