266. Detention, torture, and death of civilian
Balakliia (Kharkiv)
LOCATION: Balakliia (Kharkiv)
DATE: June 23-June 29, 2022
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2
SUMMARY: On June 23, 2022, Russian forces detained two brothers and their mother in Balakliya, under the suspicion that the brothers served as artillery spotters for Ukrainian forces. The mother was held and interrogated in the Baldruk publishing house in Balakliia until her release on June 25. The brothers were held, beaten, and interrogated in the Balakliia police station. The younger brother saw his older brother alive, but severely beaten, once in the police station, as their captors tried to force the older brother to denounce the younger one. On June 29, upon his release, the younger brother found his older brother dead in his cell, hanging from a makeshift noose. Russian forces claimed that it was suicide. He was forced to arrange an immediate funeral for his brother without an autopsy or any further investigation.
WITNESSES
The Witnesses of the incident were a mother in her sixties and a son in his thirties, both civilians and residents of Balakliia. One of the Witnesses collaborated with the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) by sharing positions of Russian forces. The other Witness did not engage in politics or public activities.
VICTIMS
The Victim of the incident was a male civilian in his 40s and a resident of Balakliia. He is the brother and son of the Witnesses. He died in prison after being brutally tortured, but Russian forces have labeled his death a suicide.
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS
as described by the Witness(es)
The perpetrator of the incident was a male soldier from the internationally unrecognized “Luhansk People’s Republic.” He formerly worked as a warden in the Balakliia police station, which the Russian occupying forces turned into a prison.