Personally took part in interrogations: FSB officer identified as "Dymer torturer"
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have identified Russian military commanders and an FSB officer responsible for occupying and torturing civilians in Kyiv Oblast during the early days of the full-scale invasion.
Source: National Police of Ukraine; Office of the Prosecutor General; Ukraine's Defence Intelligence
Details: It is noted that these individuals include the command of Russia's 83rd Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade, based in Ussuriysk in Primorsky Krai. Units of this brigade operated in the Vyshhorod district of Kyiv Oblast and were implicated in war crimes against civilians. Investigators identified the brigade commander, his deputies for logistics and military-political work, as well as the chief of staff.
Authorities established that these individuals organised the actions of their units during the occupation and ensured the functioning of a control system over captured settlements. Under their command, in March 2022, Russian forces set up a torture chamber in the village of Dymer at the Alfa-Lend company, inside a foundry workshop. In a building of about 30 sq m, more than 30 civilian men and women of various ages were held at the same time. In total, hundreds of people passed through the facility.
People were held in inhumane conditions: without sufficient food and water, without medical care, in a cold, unheated room. They were forced to sleep on the floor, use an improvised toilet in front of others, and were systematically humiliated. During so-called "interrogations", the Russians beat detainees with their hands and rifle butts, fired shots near their heads to simulate executions, used electroshock devices, and threatened to kill them.
A key role in this system was played by an FSB representative – a so-called "handler" responsible for filtration measures and work with civilians. He effectively organised and controlled the operation of the torture site, determined detention conditions, and coordinated the actions of the military.
His identity was established with the help of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence: Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Oleynichuk of the FSB.
The Office of the Prosecutor General has served him with a notice of suspicion for violating the laws and customs of war.
Defence Intelligence also reports that Oleynichuk personally conducted interrogations involving torture and cruel treatment of civilians. He may have made decisions regarding the deportation of residents of the Dymer hromada to Russia. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]
Investigators documented the illegal transfer of at least 42 people by Russian forces, including villagers, students, businesspeople, coaches, and a journalist. Those taken were dispersed across various facilities in Russia, including pre-trial detention centres and penal colonies in the Rostov, Bryansk, Smolensk, Perm, Tula, and Vladimir oblasts, as well as the Republic of Mordovia.
Some of them have been brought back. At least 24 civilians remain in captivity.
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