The Russian military organized torture and concentration camps for residents in Balakliya, Izyum District, Kharkiv Region, where they kept at least 40 people as captives, periodically torturing them.
Ukrainian workers exhume bodies from graves in Izyum, Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 16 September 2022. A mass burial site was found after Ukrainian troops recaptured the town of Izyum.Photo: PAP/EPA/OLEG PETRASYUK
According to Serhiy Bolvinov, the head of the investigation department of the primary department of the National Police of Kharkiv Region, the Russians organized a headquarters in the “police” department in the now liberated city.
Writing on social media on September 13, Bolvinov added that Russian occupiers set up a prison and a torture chamber for residents in the department’s basement and the building opposite.
They held at least 40 people as captives all the time.
The Russian occupiers used local collaborators to try and find people who served or had relatives in the Ukrainian army.
They were also looking for people who helped the Ukrainian military to destroy Russian militants and weapon depots.
(hp/tf)