Former prisoners from the Kherson region spoke about torture in the colony, which began after the region was occupied by the Russian authorities, as well as bullying during the transfer to Russian colonies. The history of Ukrainians was described in detail by Mediazona.
Prisoners Alexander Sokolov, Mikhail Kuvshinov and Alexei Zarubin met the occupation of the region in correctional colony No. 90. The first of them was found guilty of stealing timber, and the second of attempted theft of a motor boat. Both were given short sentences.
Immediately after the start of the war, most of the employees of IK-90 decided to quit their jobs in order to go to safer regions. The Russian military entered the Kherson region on March 2. Gradually, the workers of the colonies were replaced by those who support Russia, or are not ready to leave their positions for other reasons. By the summer, Ukrainian symbols and language were replaced in the colony with Russian ones.
“Well, eurozeks, the Russian Federation welcomes you,” collaborators from among the employees of colony No. 7 for tuberculosis patients near the city of Holaya Pristan told the prisoners. Convicted Ukrainians Sergei Zatirko and Yevgeny Muraev recalled that since the summer of last year, sick prisoners began to be systematically tortured: dogs were let loose on them, their hands were cut, and there were also beatings.
“I personally was beaten for an hour and a half, I ate a log , broke two teeth, — said Muraev. — When they finished, only my neck was clean, everything else was black, for two months I slept on my stomach, went to the toilet half standing. This is despite the fact that I have hepatitis C, HIV, tuberculosis, and my heart valves are torn.”
During the retreat, the Russian military took the prisoners with them to take them to Russian-controlled territories. Why this was done is still unknown. The convicts were transported by 30-40 people in paddy wagons — they were allowed to take only one bag with them. An intermediate point for all was the colony in the Naked Pristan. Later, Ukrainians were taken to Crimea.
«I got tubeThank God, cured. But nevertheless, I now have hepatitis C, I have HIV, it is not clear where it came from. A lot of boys got infected with a tube, life is broken, ”said Alexander Sokolov about the consequences of the stage through colony No. 7. Yevgeny Muraev recalled that those who were transported to Simferopol were beaten until they lost consciousness, put their heads into the toilet for the words «Glory to Ukraine.»
In total, from 1,800 to 2,500 prisoners were taken to Russia from the colonies in the Kherson region. They were placed mainly in institutions in the south of Russia. According to Zatirko, Ukrainians were forbidden to speak Ukrainian in the colonies. “You are Russians, they will give you passports, Kherson is Russia,” one of the employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service told him. In addition, the prisoners were forced to learn the Russian anthem and Russian songs.
At the end of winter and early spring of 2023, Alexander Sokolov, Mikhail Kuvshinov and Sergey Zatirko came up with the deadline. Before leaving the colonies, they were given certificates of release from IK-7 in Hola Pristan. Right there in the colony, until they were released, they were detained and handed over to the police. The courts found them guilty of violating the rules of stay in Russia (Article 18.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and ordered them to be expelled from the country.
After several weeks or months in the TsVSIG, the ex-convicts were deported to other countries, most often to Georgia. Five Ukrainians, with whom the Mediazona correspondent spoke, spent 11 days at the Upper Lars checkpoint, after which they were nevertheless allowed into the country.
“You are Russians, they will give you passports.” What happened to the Ukrainian prisoners from Kherson, whom Russia for some reason took with them during the retreat