Abuse, Torture with Electric Current and Murder: Balakliia Residents Testify about War Crimes Committed by Russian Troops

Forty residents of Balakliia had kept prisoners by Russian invaders for six months. Hundreds more civilians were subject to torture with electric current, TSN reports.

The blue and yellow flag flutters on the central square of Balakliia. The city had been living under the Russian rule for six months. During this time, no food or medicines were delivered here, so now the locals are waiting in huge lines to get humanitarian aid kits.

The Russians distributed food to starving civilians twice a week. “We had no other choice, but to take it. Grits and canned stewed meat. We had no money. No food rations were distributed during the first two months. When I recall what I went through… Well, I just cannot talk in a calm manner, when I’m starting to recall it”, the locals say with the tears in their eyes.

In the downtown of Balakliia, the invaders have set up a real torture chamber. According to police, a total of 40 people were detained there, including females. “One of the witnesses testified that he was trice brought to this chair with a bag over his head, so he couldn’t see anything. Then they connected the wires to his fingers and supplied voltage. There are bullet holes in the opposite wall. They fired guns above prisoners’ heads in order to intimidate them”, the police officers say.

The “orcs” kept civilians in small and dirty cells. Twenty women were living together in a tiny room for a months. “The locked people inside, and people were making marks to keep track of the days. You can see these marks here, on the board”, a police officer shows.

Artem was twice detained at the Russian torture chamber. During the search of his apartment, the invaders found his photo with his brother wearing the military uniform and decided to punish him. “They blindfolded me and pushed me into a car. They were driving around the city for some time, so I couldn’t know where they were taking me. They plugged in the wires. They didn’t even ask anything about my brother except for where exactly did he serve. They took away everyone whose relatives were in the military. There was a very loud exhaust vent, but when the tortured someone, they deliberately switched off the vent, so everyone could hear the screams.

The Russian soldiers left behind empty bottles, tons of trash and dirt. The law-enforcement officers are checking the empty alcohol bottles for fingerprints. “Once a drunk Russian soldier broke into the cell and started to beat everyone for no reason. What could the prisoners do anyway? He punched one guy, hit him with his boot, jumped on him. It was a very small cell. Seven people were laying on the floor. The Russian guard was jumping on that guy and broke his rib”, the witness reports.

The invaders were getting the most violent during the last few days before liberation of the city. Ms. Valentyna’s son was murdered for no reason. “They were running back and forth. They vehicles were moving around with soldiers sitting on tom of them. They were fleeing, and my son and his friend got under fire. He was in the downtown. The eyewitnesses saw a Russian man with an assault rifle. He stepped out of the yard and shot my son’s car”, he woman recalls.

According to the local officials, there are thousands of improvised shallow graves in the liberated parts of Kharkiv Region. They promise the carefully document all crimes committed by the invaders against civilians. “Since September 6th, the Armed Forces of Ukraien have liberated three thousand eight hundred square kilometers in Kharkiv Region”, Hanna Maliar, the Deputy Defence Minister, reports.

Everything left behind by the invaders clearly indicate that the didn’t expect the counteroffensive operation by Ukrainian military. Some of them hurried to escape so much that even forget to take their underwear.

Residents of Balakliia greeted Ukrainian military with their eyes full of tear, and these heartbreaking photos quickly circled the globe. “I heated some food, because we hadn’t eaten anything since early morning and were hungry. So it was afternoon, we just sit at the table, I raised my eyes and through the holes in the faced I saw men walking the road with blue bands. I yelled: our boys are coming! Everyone rushed to the yard. They stopped next to us, sit here for a while talking to us, telling their stories”, one of the women from the video recalls.

After liberation of Balakliia, there is a lot of work for local authorities. The winter is coming, but the city is still cut off from power and water supply. “We must restore operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Since the winter season will start soon, we also have to do something with the bridges”, Oleh Syniehubov, the Head of Regional Military Administration, said.

Before the war, the population of Balakliia was over 20 thousand. After invasion, a half of the residents evacuated, but now they are coming back to the city. Over 1500 civilians returned to Balakliia during the first few days after the liberation.

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