Russians use stun guns and truncheons, unleash dogs, and sexually assault prisoners — all in the centre of the city, where there is a market and entertainment nearby. In the middle of the city of Borisoglebsk, in the Voronezh oblast, there is Detention Centre No. 2. This is where Russians are holding civilian hostages and prisoners of war. Slidstvo.Info journalists talked to those released from captivity, and a year later, they still have scars on their bodies from dog bites.
This is reported in a video by Slidstvo.Info. The video has English subtitles.
‘Olenivka’ (colony No. 120 in occupied Olenivka, where an explosion occurred on 28 July 2022. More than 50 soldiers of the Azov regiment were killed and more than 70 were seriously injured — ed.) seemed to us a high-security pioneer camp,’ former prisoner of war Andrii compares the conditions in the Borisoglebsk Detention Centre. The man is 38 years old and has been in the army since 2016. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Andrii was on duty in Mariupol, participating in street battles, and rarely visited the Azovstal bunker. He believed until the last that there would be help, and eventually he was released into honourable captivity, where he spent 20 months.
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- Former prisoner of war Andrii
At first, Andrii was held in Olenivka colony. There he witnessed a terrorist attack. He says that on the night of 29 July 2022, Azov and National Guard soldiers were transferred to a second barracks in the industrial zone.
‘We heard grenade launchers, and those who carried out the operation tried to muffle the explosion itself. The first shell fell somewhere near our area, and the second one hit the barracks. That’s where the Azov guys and all the other guys were. As far as we know, the main explosion was from the inside. We heard the guys there asking for help. There was a lot of screaming and noise. Everyone was running around, no one was allowed to leave the barracks. We heard sporadic shots,’ the freed man shares his experience.
Later, Andrii was transferred to the Voronezh oblast, Borisoglebsk Detention Centre. He spent more than a year there, his body was blue and purple from the constant abuse with truncheons and stun guns.
‘I didn’t want to go outside, because by the time I got to that walk, I was like a beehive. Every day there were beatings and torture. Going to the bathhouse was like a quest. They could hit you with a taser or set dogs loose. They did it on purpose, not just to make the dog jump, but to provoke the dogs,’ Andrii recalls.
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- Photo shared by Andrii. Scars on Andrii’s body after being bitten by dogs on his leg and arm
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- Photo shared by Andrii. Scars on Andrii’s body after being bitten by dogs on his leg and arm
Earlier, Slidstvo.Info journalists featured a story about a civilian from Kherson, Volodymyr, who also survived torture in the Borisoglebsk Detention Centre. The man was beaten every day for five months, and he also recalls that dogs were set on him: ‘Any movement outside the cells was accompanied by beatings and stun guns. I was bitten by dogs several times, it was just a way for the dog handlers to have fun. Because of my injuries, I was usually moving at the end of the line, and the dog was attacking me.’
Documenters from the human rights organisation Media Initiative for Human Rights have testimonies from another man and woman who survived captivity in Borisoglebsk. They also said that dogs were set on them.
‘Siccing dogs is a component of torture under international law. The perpetrators do this to inflict physical pain and mental suffering on the prisoner. It is emotionally stressful and a person cannot expect what the dog will do,’ says Olena Belyachkova, coordinator of the groups of families of prisoners of war and missing persons at the Media Initiative for Human Rights.
Russian websites do not mention the detention of Ukrainian prisoners in Borisoglebsk, let alone torture. Instead, the latest ‘news’ is that Detention Centre No. 2 has had a new head since September — Vladimir Kostin, who had been working towards this position for almost 20 years. And with the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he stood out in particular. There is not much information about the staff of Detention Centre No.2 in the public domain. From what is available, it seems that they have a special love of art in their free time between beating prisoners and setting dogs on them.
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- On the screenshots: news in Russian media about the workers of the Detention Centre No.2 and their successes at singing and shooting competitions
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- On the screenshots: news in Russian media about the workers of the Detention Centre No.2 and their successes at singing and shooting competitions
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- On the screenshots: news in Russian media about the workers of the Detention Centre No.2 and their successes at singing and shooting competitions
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- On the screenshots: news in Russian media about the workers of the Detention Centre No.2 and their successes at singing and shooting competitions
Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating cases related to violations of the rules for the treatment of prisoners of war in Russia. In particular, they are collecting information about the Borisoglebsk Detention Centre No. 2.
‘Investigative actions have already been conducted with 62 people who were held in this place. Most of them claim ill-treatment. These are all sorts of facts related to infliction of bodily harm, electric shock, dog bites, sexual violence against them. Very often, people die in such places, and we only receive their bodies after they return from these places,’ said Taras Semkiv, Deputy Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict, Office of the Prosecutor General.
Andrii, a soldier released from captivity, wants the perpetrators to be punished for their daily abuse of Ukrainian prisoners: ‘We never give up and will fight to the last. I want the perpetrators to feel what it is like to be a prisoner. I really want them all to be punished for their actions, because it is impossible to leave it like this.’
