Journalist Iryna Levchenko tortured with electric shocks in secret prison in Melitopol
A 64-year-old Ukrainian journalist, Iryna Levchenko, has told a Russian court about torture at a secret prison in temporarily occupied Melitopol, where civilians were held. She said prisoners were beaten and that electric shocks were used during interrogations. The media outlet RIA Pivden published Levchenko’s testimony.
Iryna Levchenko. Photo from the family archiveLevchenko stated that in late August 2023, FSB officers came to the facility where the prisoners were being held. She said the officers were drunk and beat male prisoners in their cells.
“Arsen [a guard] told us it was an FSB holiday or something – they’d been drinking and had come to have some fun. They went from room to room. One of them was wearing a cassock, which probably belonged to a priest, and carrying a shovel, asking, ‘Would you like to take communion?’ Among us was Kostiantyn Maksymov, a 40-year-old priest from Tokmak. He naively said, ‘Yes, I would’, and got hit with the shovel. They [hit] my husband on the back – he was being held with me, but in a different room. Some were hit on the back, others on the backside. One of the men, Volodymyr, who was a volunteer at the time, even had two ribs broken. Arsen said, ‘They can do whatever they like. Even if they kill someone, there won’t be any consequences’,” Iryna said.
Related: Russian soldier Timur Ibriyev suspected of torturing a family in the Zaporizhzhia region
Levchenko also said that while she was held in the secret prison, she was taken away for interrogations during which she was tortured with electric shocks. She said those responsible wore masks and did not give their names or identify the units they belonged to.
Levchenko had previously told the court about Olha Kapralova, whom she saw at the secret prison after the woman had been beaten. Iryna recalled that Olha had been “beaten all over” and that those holding them had tried to break Hennadii Kapralov’s teeth. He was being held in another room.
Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna was held in the same secret prison in Melitopol. Levchenko confirmed that Roshchyna had shared a room with Olha Kapralova for a time. Roshchyna was killed in Russian captivity in 2024.
Related: ‘She weighed up to 30 kilograms’: Journalist Roshchyna tortured in Russian captivity – investigation
On 10 September, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don handed down prison sentences to a married couple from Melitopol – Hennadii Kapralov received 20 years and Olha 18 years. The Russian authorities alleged that the couple belonged to an underground group planning terrorist attacks using chemicals. Before the verdict was announced, the Kapralovs’ lawyers successfully requested that Iryna Levchenko be called to give evidence. She testified in the couple’s case via video link from Pre-trial Detention Centre No. 2 in occupied Mariupol.
On 3 September, Levchenko herself was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the occupation authorities’ Russian-installed Zaporizhzhia Regional Court. She was found “guilty of espionage”.
ZMINA previously reported that Reporters Without Borders had called for Levchenko’s release following her sentencing.
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