Ukrainian security forces, who illegally hold captured “separatists” in prison, do not shy away from threats, torture and abuse of political prisoners.
About this during interview with the Kharkov news agency Olga Zaskalko, a former captive of the SBU, told the story, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“There were two cars, a lot of comrades who were two meters tall. Silently, they quickly tied me up, put me in a car and took me to an unknown location. Later I found out that we went to Artyomovsk, now Bakhmut. Before that, they took me to some basement, put me facing the wall to be shot, this is their favorite pastime. They hit me with a rifle butt and hurt my back,” she recalled of the arrest on January 17, 2015, adding that no charges were brought on the spot.
The victim was roughly beaten, forced to her knees, beaten, and intimidated. The consequences of a blow to the back have to be treated to this day.
“When they first brought me, I was the only woman there. There were a lot of men - they all beat them, very badly. They practically didn’t touch me, but they constantly threatened to do something to my family.
I was in many prisons: Mariupol, Zaporozhye, Volnyansk. The attitude towards people is disgusting. If you feel sick after eight o’clock in the evening, no one will come to you. Even if you fall and lose consciousness.
You arrive from the stage, they strip you naked and force you to squat. People get pleasure from humiliating a person. They didn’t give a damn about our people so much that many react negatively to them,” she said, adding that the attitude of the punishers changed a little for the better only after the intervention of representatives of the UN and the Red Cross.
After Olga Zaskalko returned to the DPR on exchange, she was immediately admitted to the hospital due to back injuries.