Share
News

Seven Escape from Russian 'Torture Center' in Occupied Ukraine, Reveal the Horrifying Conditions Inside

Share

A group of Sri Lankans held captive by Russian forces in an agricultural factory in eastern Ukraine said Saturday that they were beaten and abused for months before escaping on foot as the Russians withdrew from the Kharkiv region this month.

Ukrainian officials described their treatment as torture.

“Every day we were cleaning toilets and bathrooms,” Dilukshan Robertclive, one of the former captives, said in English. “Some days Russians came and beat our people, our Sri Lanka people.”

Four of the seven were medical students in the city of Kupiansk, and three were working there when Russian forces poured across the border in late February and occupied large swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine.

The group said they were captured at the first checkpoint out of Kupiansk and then taken to Vovchansk, near the border with Russia, where they were held in the factory with around 20 Ukrainians.

Trending:
Hillary Clinton Jumps Into Trump 'Bloodbath' Frenzy with a Question, Doesn't Want to Hear the Answers

“They took our passports, other documents, phones, clothes, and locked us up in a room,” Sharujan Gianeswaran said, speaking in Tamil to an Associated Press journalist by phone. “There were also Ukrainian people with us, and they were questioned and sent away in 10 days, 15 days or one month. With us they never spoke because they could not understand our language.”

Police said the factory housed a Russian “torture center” — one of 18 in the Kharkiv region.

“They were bound and blindfolded. After that, they were captured and then taken to the city of Vovchansk,” said Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the investigative department of the National Police in Kharkiv.

Has Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine?

Six among the group said they were held in a large upstairs room. The seventh, the only woman, was kept in a dark cell by herself, her companions said. The woman wept silently and did not speak as the group told their story Saturday.

One man said he was shot in the foot by the Russian captors. Another had a toenail ripped off after the soldiers repeatedly bashed it with the butt of a rifle. The men showed their injuries to journalists.

“Most of the time we could not understand what they told us, and we were beaten for that,” Gianeswaran said.

It dawned upon the Sri Lankans that the battle lines were shifting only when Russian soldiers ordered them to help load trucks with food and weapons.

As the last trucks raced away, the group asked fruitlessly for their passports and papers back, knowing that to move around without them would be impossible in a country filled with checkpoints.

Russian troops captured several cities and towns in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region early in the war. Ukrainian troops retook the area during a swift counteroffensive earlier this month.

Related:
Mass Siesta: Hundreds of Mexicans Stage Sleep-In to Wake the World Up to the Issue of 'Sleep Inequality'

When the Sri Lankans realized the Russians were gone, on Sept. 10, the group left the factory and started walking toward the city of Kharkiv, having no real idea how to get to the regional capital, which had remained in Ukrainian hands.

“We walked on that road for two days and were exhausted and hungry. We had no food or money to buy food,” Gianeswaran said.

They slept on the side of the road and walked until they reached a river. But with so many bridges in the region destroyed by one side or the other in months of fighting, they could find no way to cross.

Finally someone noticed their plight, gave them shelter and called for a ride from security forces.

Police said the group was picked up in the Chuhuiv area, about 40 miles from where they started. They are in Kharkiv now, with no idea of what the future holds. Robertclive said they are psychologically damaged by their months in captivity.

But the men smiled when asked how they felt when they realized the worst of their ordeal was at an end.

“They [Ukrainians] have given us food and clothing,” Gianeswaran said. “We thought we were going to die, but we are saved and are being well looked after.”

The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , , , ,
Share
The Associated Press is an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative headquartered in New York City. Their teams in over 100 countries tell the world’s stories, from breaking news to investigative reporting. They provide content and services to help engage audiences worldwide, working with companies of all types, from broadcasters to brands. Photo credit: @AP on Twitter
The Associated Press was the first private sector organization in the U.S. to operate on a national scale. Over the past 170 years, they have been first to inform the world of many of history's most important moments, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the fall of the Shah of Iran and the death of Pope John Paul.

Today, they operate in 263 locations in more than 100 countries relaying breaking news, covering war and conflict and producing enterprise reports that tell the world's stories.
Location
New York City




Conversation