UCP: 20 residents of the occupied Kherson region exposed for torturing locals on behalf of the Russians

Law enforcement officers have identified 20 residents of the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region who, after the start of the full-scale invasion, switched to the side of Russia, joined the occupation "law enforcement agencies" and participated in the kidnappings and torture of local residents. This was reported by the Department of Internal Security of the National Police and the Prosecutor General's Office .

According to the investigation, the exposed individuals joined the illegal law enforcement agency "Novotroitsy Police Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in the Kherson Region."

This structure was led by three Ukrainian citizens. To organize its work, they involved both current and former employees of territorial units of the National Police of Ukraine, as well as local residents of Novotroitsky who supported pro-Russian views.

They were all appointed to fictitious positions and given special ranks.

"The suspects kidnapped local residents who support Ukraine, law enforcement officers, tortured them, and conducted "investigative actions" with them, using torture. Members of the criminal organization held them in inhumane conditions for a long time in the basement of the captured police station in the city of Novotroitske," the Prosecutor General's Office reported.

Among the victims are former Ukrainian law enforcement officers, activists, government employees, educators, and citizens who oppose the Russian occupation.

Investigators of the SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office, in cooperation with the NPU operatives, have collected evidence of the group's illegal activities. All 20 suspects were notified of suspicion in absentia. They are charged with:

← creation and participation in a criminal organization;

← collaborative activities;

← torture;

← unlawful deprivation of liberty or kidnapping.

They face up to 15 years in prison.

• On May 23, the SBU detained a man suspected of guarding a Russian torture chamber in Kherson during the occupation, and later of attempting to hide in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
• On June 3, it became known that law enforcement officers identified and in absentia announced suspicion of a Russian National Guard soldier who brutally treated civilians in the Kherson region.