Russians held and tortured Ukrainians to death in school in Kherson region, mocked executions, and hardly fed them

For five months, Russians illegally detained and tortured at least 20 Ukrainians in a school during the occupation of the village of Biliaivka in the Kherson region. Four of these people died: two during detention due to torture, and two more died after their release. 

This was reported during a briefing by Yelyzaveta Sokurenko, coordinator of the war crimes documentation unit of the ZMINA Human Rights Centre. 

After the liberation of the village of Biliaivka, Beryslav district, Kherson region, Ukrainians discovered a Russian torture chamber in a room on the first floor of the Biliaivka educational complex. 

The torture chamber was set up in a maintenance room on the first floor of the school, which was not suitable for holding people. The educational institution housed the headquarters of the Russian military. 

According to the victims, they were hardly fed. They were given liquid soup, which they had to drink from a cut-off plastic bottle, or stew in cans, sometimes bread. Water was given once every 1-2 days in a five-litre bottle for everyone. Some even tried to drink their own urine.

All detainees were subjected to psychological violence; there were two cases of mock executions, and they were threatened with castration. The Russians physically tortured 12 people, in particular, with an electric current connected to their genitals.