Prosecutors of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor's Office, together with investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine in the region, are investigating the fact of illegal deprivation of liberty and torture of the village head from the occupied Berdyansk district.

The investigation has established that in April 2022, two heads of structural units of the "Primorsky Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Zaporizhzhia Region," along with an operative officer of the occupying "Main Police Department" and representatives of armed formations of the Russian Federation, attempted to force the official to switch sides and work in the occupying administration of Primorsk.

The man was illegally detained and initially held in a seized police building, and later in a colony. He spent more than a month in harsh conditions without proper food, was subjected to psychological and physical pressure, threatened with reprisals against him and the residents of his community, and intimidated with torture using electric shocks and infliction of bodily harm.

The cruel treatment of the victim is a gross violation of the laws and customs of war.

Currently, three members of the criminal group have been notified of suspicion in absentia under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (cruel treatment of the civilian population, other violations of the laws and customs of war, committed by a group of persons in conspiracy). All of them are citizens of Ukraine, former law enforcement officers who, before the full-scale invasion, did not pass re-certification and were dismissed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia Region under the procedural guidance of prosecutors of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor's Office.