Elina Sulima
A witness account of abduction and torture in Hornostaivka village, Kherson region
Serhii, a resident of the Kherson region, was kidnapped from his home on August 3, 2022. At that time, the Southern part of Ukraine, located on both banks of the Dnipro River, had been under the control of the Russian occupying forces for almost five months. At first, the man was kept at the commandant’s office of Nova Kakhovka, a small city on the left bank of the Dnipro River, for some time. Then, Sergii was transferred approximately 50 km East to the former police station of the village of Hornostaivka. While in detention, the Russian occupying forces tried to persuade Serhii to collaborate and point to weapons caches. He refused. On December 22 of last year, Serhii was finally released with a few other civilians.