They were cut and tortured. What the people who survived the torture of the Russians in Kharkiv - interview with the Ombudsman were told

In fact, I understood what I would see, because I see it in absolutely all the liberated territories. When we return, first, we see the destruction, and secondly, we are sure to find the so-called military commanders, in which the Russians are sure to create torture, where, unfortunately, both civilians and military personnel are always. And without parsing, they take away the civilians of all, there are even teenagers, enough young people, necessarily women. And torture is massively used to all.

And, unfortunately, we see that some of the people who were in the shadows are simply killed and then we find the cemeteries of tortured, killed people. - From what opened, you can imagine the size of these crimes committed by the invaders in Kharkiv region? - I personally watched Balaklia and Raisin. Only in these two cities will I tell you that it is only civilians killed about a thousand. This is what is currently established.

If we talk about all the liberated territory of Kharkiv region, I think this figure will be larger. - Tell me, criminalists now work in order to establish everything that can today, dead people, carry out all the necessary examinations for further lawsuits? - Yes, of course, it is very important for us to legally establish everything that has happened for the state.

And here I want to tell you what I saw as quickly as possible and how one team is operating by both the National Police, the SBU, and the office of the Prosecutor General with the prosecutor's office. All of our law enforcement officers sent a large number of people who have just exchanged the territory or premises from the first minutes.

For example, in Balakliya this torture (and there were two of them), one was in the premises of typography, and directly opposite there was a premises of the police department, there was also a second torture in the basements. So we went there immediately after the miners that looked away, so that there was nothing. We came together with representatives of the National Police, the SBU, because the regional police department. And to the typography we came first.

The day before there were operational investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine, the next day I was there, with them we went down, even before we checked whether they were replaced or not replaced. And what I saw, really, I think that I saw a lot in this life, but I will tell you, even I shuddered from this atmosphere, from the conditions in which our people were, as they were bullied.

I managed to communicate with our citizens, one of them was in Kativnia in the regional department for more than 90 days. The young guy Alexander, he is a little more than 20 years old. As far as I understood, only because the neighbors conveyed about his pro -Ukrainian position, he was detained, beaten, used, cut, smoked, heated metal, heated metal and drove metal. They demanded that he signed under the fact that he was a spy and a corrective of the Armed Forces.

He told a lot, one can only say that he is a very courageous person, in all 90 days everything he survived there, but withstood. He told how they fled from Balaklius, how they got out of these cameras, smashed windows, climbed, liberated the same prisoners as they were. Three days later, he helps and says: my task is now in public, I am ready to tell about it so that the whole world really knows what the Russians are doing.

And these were exclusively the Russians, he says that the citizens of the Russian Federation, the employees of Rosgvardia, the FSB, what they do with humans, including women, are as highly cruel. He did not see it, but heard on shouts, says that they heard shouts or men or women who are just tortured, crippled, knock out some indications and hammers and psychologically.

He says that we have heard the shots repeatedly, we do not know at the present time, it is determined whether they were shots already killed people, found shots in the room, or when people were fired from guns over their heads. - Did the neighbors bring to the person that she had a pro -Ukrainian position, and has already opened criminal proceedings against these neighbors? - Yes, open, but these are those who openly went to cooperate with the occupiers.

How much Alexander told that they all left. -What do you think about finding criminals, performers, how realistic it is, first, to identify and, secondly, to open criminal proceedings against those who killed, made torture, mocked Ukrainian citizens? - About identification, I think there will be no too difficult task, because there are testimonies of many people, they saw their faces, and by passages the phrases could be theoretically to whom they, their names.

Even in Balakliya, in Kativnia, which was in typography, they ran so quickly that they forgot the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation. We found it, were investigators, opened, everything is, there this person is installed. Automatically spinning which unit it is from, we will be able to understand and establish one hundred percent and determine who was there: what military unit, employees. Believe me, they leave so much evidence of their participation that everyone will be established.

It is clear that this is all the time, it is necessary to work, but nevertheless we are sure that each of them will be installed and everyone will be like a small part, but a large international tribunal, which will disassemble and condemn it. Both specific persons of the performers and the higher leadership of this state, which directly gave orders. What we see is a 100% pre -planned scheme, a mechanism, as they should act in the occupied territory of Ukraine.

They come, open military commandant, their regional departments "police", begin to look for citizens of Ukraine, former law enforcement officers, Ukrainian volunteers, those who are openly configured. This is all part of the intimidation of the local population, they are observed in every settlement, we understand it. At present, I personally do everything to see the world not only, we have a lot of examples of how they act.

It started with Bucha, Irpen, Vorzel, continues in Balakliya, Izium, and will continue. In every settlement there will be about the same situation, but for us, it is a establishment of a legal fact, it is very important to understand the whole world as soon as possible that this state is acting like this, it is a terrorist state, a Russian Federation.

For us, it is not just a process, it is a process that must be legally ending in the fact that the Russian Federation must be recognized as a terrorist state, automatically violates, as an example, all the principles of the United Nations, the exclusion of the Russian Federation from the UN. I think this is the goal that we need to set ourselves and attract all our opportunities, our international partners, so that they come to this as soon as possible.

The United Nations cannot afford to keep a terrorist state in its ranks. Upon my return, I wrote an official letter to the UN, to the OSCE, to the International Committee of the Red Cross, so they urgently found opportunity and went to Balakliya and Izium. In order for them to legally confirm the fact that there was: torture the civilian population, the illegal murder and torture of Ukrainian servicemen, and that inhuman torture is used before all of them.

And on our servicemen, unfortunately, a grave was found, where there were 17 servicemen of the Armed Forces in one grave. I was shown the first guy, our hero, who was taken, opened: he had tied hands behind his back rope. And on the marks that my attention was drawn, the doctors who were present there are saying that we can say that torture was used to this guy.

- Is it possible to identify the bodies of Ukrainian citizens, servicemen, civilians who were murdered by Russian invaders? - Yes, it is not fast, but it is installed. Then the DNA procedure is used through relatives and I am sure that everyone will be installed.

- Are you talking about our partners, do you already communicate with your colleagues from Europe and other regions of the planet as an Ombudsman? What is the reaction? - The reaction, as in most adequate democratic countries, is the same reaction in the ombudsmans of these countries. They support, understand what is happening. In 2. 5 months I work, I spent online meetings with the management of all international organizations that include the world Ombudsmen.

These are several organizations: Hanry (Ombudsman General), it is a European Ombudsman's organization, currently 46. It is an International Organization for National Human Rights Protection, 200 Ombudsmen from all over the world. I talked with all the leaders, [they] understand what is happening, they support us, put us on the initiatives on additional protection of our institution, our citizens who are abroad.

I always suggest that we immediately create a mechanism for sharing information so that they receive the information that is happening in our country as quickly as possible. Everyone agrees. Recently, there was a collection of 46 European Ombudsmen in Warsaw, it was my first trip abroad. I can tell you that almost all of those present, first, understand what was happening and publicly spoke and provided our state support.

Yes, we have several countries that we need to work with separately, let's say so. I will not say that they do not support us, but in public they are not ready to do it now. I am talking first of all about the position of Hungary's Ombudsman, separately with him I try to spend a two-way online meeting, maybe we will find contact. Of course, we are most supported by countries that border the Russian Federation, traditionally these are the Baltic countries, Poland.

I have a very good communication with the Ombudsman of Moldova and the Ombudsman of Georgia. Therefore, those countries that understand what the Russian Federation is, and Moldova [has occupied the occupation] of its territory, Georgia, and Ukraine is now in such a situation. I gave them such a message that the liberation of the territory of Georgia and Moldova will begin with how Ukraine will liberate and return its territories.

And they support it, say so, we understand it, which is why they are ready to support Ukraine. In terms of support, we have no problems in the Ombudsman's environment, what I saw. Unfortunately, we have problems among the leadership somewhere, among individual politicians from different countries, including European ones, and we need to do it. It is necessary to work, to show such actions of the Russian Federation, what they do, and legally.

Kills children, illegally deport our population, kills women, elderly. These are all signs of genocide of the Ukrainian nation. Therefore, it is very important to us, these are parallel processes: recognizing what is happening, genocide, and recognition of the Russian Federation by the terrorist country. We need to understand that it is a difficult way, but we legally need to deal with it.

- Do you hear proposals from our foreign partners to help all the necessary examinations? - Yes, there is, legally in our country, the Office of the Prosecutor General. As far as I know, even there I met, in Izium, a large group from the Office of the Prosecutor General with the involvement of prosecutors from all areas. Everyone understands that it is necessary to fix as quickly as possible, to bring there procedurals, who should legally develop it all.

And as far as I know, a number of European countries have offered such help and we used it. We had colleagues from Britain and France during the record of crimes in Bucha, Irpen. I also know that the option is now being worked out for investigators, criminalists from a number of European countries. Yes, this help is offered and we use it. - Journalists also document crimes, capture the destruction, places of burial of people, witnesses who survived.

Evaluate the importance of these materials for future lawsuits, including international laws. - It is very important for us and I would like to thank all journalists, there were a lot in Izium and Balakli. Yes, we need journalists to come, they need to be recorded and told the world, what really happened for occupation. Therefore, it is very important that we appreciate it.

Even when investigators started working at the place of this burial, everyone asked journalists, they did not ask for "let us go there", but they asked them, please, wait, we will give you access. The only thing that is happening is now, then investigators came, worked out, and then, in one day, we will give you access as quickly as possible to get you and look, looked. Similarly, there were a lot of journalists, the whole teams.

We understand that there is a dangerous employee or the Ministry of Defense or a law enforcement agency for each journalist. They do not just come, we are worried about their safety, they all accompany them. But how do we differ from the Russian Federation? We do not have the same: you only go to this road and only fix this house. Everything I want and where the journalist wants to go, we provide this opportunity.

I addressed the journalists: if you see that you have any problems, you are not given accreditation, they are not allowed, of course, as soon as you have been exchanged, you should be given access. While I was there for two days, the journalists appealed to me only with words of gratitude or with requests that I personally comment on these events. So now we all work together. For journalists, we create the maximum conditions for everything to be fixed.

- How will the process of transferring materials on war crimes of the Russian Federation to international courts, in particular to the International Court of Hague? - The procedure itself is not ready to say, it is a parish of the Attorney General's office. As far as I know, the investigator of the International Criminal Court of Khan, who came to Ukraine twice, is often directly on the telephone.