Ukraine identifies 13 collaborators who tortured people in Izium during occupation

Law enforcement officers have identified 13 collaborators who, during the Russian occupation of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast, looted and tortured civilians and kept them in metal containers without food or water.

Source: Office of the Prosecutor General; National Police of Ukraine

Quote: "Prosecutors have identified 11 militants as well as an MP in the so-called 'LPR' and the head of the Union of Cinematographers of the 'DPR', who committed war crimes during the occupation of the city of Izium." ["LPR" is the "Luhansk People's Republic", a self-proclaimed Russia-backed quasi-state formation in Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast; "DPR" is the "Donetsk People's Republic" respectively – ed.]

Details: According to the investigators, from early April to 10 September 2022, in temporarily occupied Izium, the suspects looted and tortured people and held them in metal containers without food or water.

They resorted to beatings and threats to extract information about ATO veterans and Ukrainian service members. [The ATO or Anti-Terrorist Operation is a term used from 2014 to 2018 by the media, the government of Ukraine and the OSCE to identify combat actions in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts against Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists – ed.].

The prosecutors added that the collaborators filmed their abuses and edited propaganda videos about the "elimination of Banderites". ["Banderites" is a pejorative term derived from the name of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera and is widely used in Russian propaganda to label Ukrainians or supporters of Ukrainian statehood – ed.]

For this, they received promotions and incentives, including from the senior political leadership of the Russian Federation.

One of the victims was a 46-year-old Plast patriotic movement member and assistant to a member of the Izium City Council. The man was brutally beaten and shot in the face, and his body was later dumped near a railway crossing.

All 13 of the suspects have been served with notices of suspicion of treason and violations of the laws and customs of war.

Police also said the suspects detained people in an outbuilding on the grounds of a house, where they had set up a torture chamber.

In some cases, detainees were held in a metal container located near a public transport stop in the city of Izium.

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