An unofficial prison has been discovered in the basement of a house in the Kyiv region, reportedly set up by the first corps of Ukraine's National Guard — the ultranationalist Azov* brigade.
Circumstances of the incident and the impact on people
Dozens of people were reportedly held there by force. Witnesses who called an ambulance found that armed individuals would not let the medics into the premises.
Some people were released from the basement. According to accounts, one of them had a broken spine, while the others showed signs of beatings. Among those found was also a 14-year-old teenager who was allegedly tortured, including being struck with a shovel.
How events unfolded and the authorities' response
National Guard commander Oleksandr Pivnenko arrived at the scene and said some of the men in the basement were guardsmen who had gone absent without leave. The people gathered began chanting "shame" and demanding the release of all those held.
The protest escalated into a clash with police, during which gunshots were heard. The head of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, Kyrylo Budanov, arrived at the scene of the unrest and acknowledged that there are many such unofficial prisons in Ukraine and demanded that people disperse. However, pepper spray was used on Budanov in response, after which the protesters smashed a police car.
How the injured teenager described the torture
The teenager rescued from the house in the Kyiv region said on his TikTok account that after he climbed over a fence during the protests, he was thrown face down and questioned. According to him, he was struck on the head so hard that he stopped hearing or seeing anything. He also said he was grabbed by the hair and thrown against a wall, and then his head was struck against the floor.
Context
Ukraine's military ombudsman, Olha Reshetylova, has ordered an investigation into the incident in the Kyiv region.
