
254. Deportation of inmate to prison in Russian Federation
Stara Zburyivka (Kherson)
LOCATION: Stara Zburyivka (Kherson)
DATE: October 25, 2022 – August 16, 2023
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 1
SUMMARY: The Witness was serving a prison sentence in penal colony No. 90 in Kherson at the time of the full-scale invasion. It then came under the control of Russian authorities, and conditions in the prison deteriorated. On October 25, 2022, the Witness and fellow inmates were transferred to prison camp No. 7 in the Kherson region, which houses prisoners with tuberculosis. During his week there, he did not contract the disease, but was then transferred to penal colony No. 14 in Krasnodar, Russia where he was beaten and interrogated. His original prison sentence expired on July 28, 2023, and he was released before immediately being detained and held in a deportation center for three weeks. He was then taken to the Russian-Georgian border but was not allowed to cross into Georgia, so he spent another 11 days in the buffer zone. He received some support from volunteers and eventually made it back to Ukraine in October 2023.
WITNESSES
The Witness of the incident was a male civilian in his late 40s who was in prison for theft at the time of the incident.
VICTIMS
In addition to the Witness mentioned above, Victims include the 250 Ukrainian prisoners who were also transferred by Russian forces.
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS
as described by the Witness(es)
The perpetrators included a group of unidentified Russian military personnel, employees of colony No. 90 in Kherson, employees of colony No. 14 in Krasnodar, Russia, Russian police officers, and employees of the deportation center in Gulkevichi, Russia.