Russian FSB operative Yagudin Eldar faces prison time over torture in occupied Kherson
An officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has been charged in absentia with cruel treatment of civilians and other violations of the laws and customs of war for allegedly torturing a civilian in the occupied Kherson Region (Oblast), the Prosecutor General’s Office reported.
The suspect Yagudin Eldar. Photo: National Police of UkraineThe suspect is Yagudin Eldar, a resident of Balashikha in the Moscow Oblast. At the time of the alleged crimes, he worked in Directorate V of the FSB’s Special Purpose Centre and used the call sign “Hulk.”
Ukrainian investigators say that on 10 April 2022, about 30 Russian soldiers arrived in the village of Mykhailivka in the occupied Kherson Oblast and abducted a 41-year-old local man. Before taking the civilian, they searched his home and then brought him to the basement of the Chaika sanatorium in the resort town of Lazurne.
ZMINA has previously reported on other identified Russian torturers from the area, including a former police officer from Mariupol.
The village of Lazurne in the Kherson Oblast: the red-roofed building is the Chaika sanatorium. Screenshot: Google MapsIn the sanatorium’s basement, the abducted man was interrogated in an attempt to extract information about local volunteers, those aiding the Ukrainian military or anyone who might possess weapons. The interrogation was initiated by another suspect, FSB officer Belyatskiy Yuriy, whose case is already being heard in court.
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Belyatskiy allegedly used a radio to summon Yagudin to apply more brutal methods of coercion.
“The suspect, along with other Russian military personnel, tortured the victim for about 10 hours. The victim was stripped naked, beaten, choked to cut off his air supply and shot. After prolonged abuse, the man was released in critical condition,” law enforcement officials said.
If convicted, Yagudin faces eight to 12 years in prison in absentia.
Separately, Russian police officer Alexandr Medelskiy was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for torturing civilians in Kherson.
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