In March 2014, the 'LPR’ militants took over the town of Antratsyt in Luhansk region. There were many ‘cossacks’ among the separatist fighters at that time.

A part of the people detained by the separatist was held at the regional council premises, in the basement and service rooms. Victims interviewed by human rights workers told stories of extremely cruel treatment and torture.

Conditions of detention

One of the interviewers was kept handcuffed to the bars at a service room in the first-floor corridor.

The room had approximately 10 square meters and was separated from the hallway by bars. There was another temporary large set of bars against the wall in the room. There were two bookcases in the room. On the floor, there were documents on the documents related to the city council operations. I assume that the збройова кімната was nearby since separatist came there to receive weapons. There were guards in the room the entire time, sometimes they would switch.

Detainees were given water once or twice per day and taken to the toilet.

Prisoners in this room were regularly beaten. Moreover, people were tortured right there. They pushed one prisoner into a small box, wrapped his head with duct tape, and injured him, in particular drilled through his leg when closing this box.

Then, the person and other detainees were transferred to the basement of approximately 15 square meters. It was dark, you couldn't see anything. People were sleeping in boards. The guards prohibited talking. Once, a guard fired onto the door when people were having an active conversation. At first, they wouldn't take people to the toilet, and then brought a plastic bottle. Prisoners here were beaten less often, however, the guards who brought food still hit people.

They were mostly beating me, others were beaten less often. Once, they even let the smokers light a cigarette, and I was beaten that time.

Torture

Witnesses testify not only about regular beatings, but also about cruel torture. According to one of sympathizers of Novorossiya project, torture was used against both the pro-Ukrainian detainees and those who came to fight for the separatists alike. Actual witnesses confirm the existence of the Internet character.

They put some kind of pillow case on my head, fixed it with duct tape, and used handcuffs, duct tape and ropes to tie my wrists and the left knee to the bars, встановлених у простінку with an angle that twisted my joints to the maximum, and the entire weight of my body fell on my wrists and the knee. They tied my right leg to the left knee so I could not lean on anything. I managed to hold on for some time, but then I ran out of strength and was simply hanging on my hands and knee. They took me 'off the cross’ when it was clear I would have necrosis soon, and my hands would need to be amputated.

Another witness said,

… [They] were jabbing me with a knitting needle, choking with different objects, squeezed my fingers with pliers and tortured me with a  електорошокером.

… According to him and the separatists, they drilled a hole in his anal отвір. He also talks about the above-mentioned case of torture when a person was shocked into a small box and his leg was perforated with a drill. Those nearby thought that the person died.

The above-mentioned separatist who was subjected to cruel torture and saw how other people were treated, wrote in his blog:

I don't hold a grudge against the militia men who tortured me in Antratsyt. They made a mistake, it happens. As soon as I get get better and improve my financial conditions, I am available, if the republic still needs volunteers by that time, to join the militia and fight for the Russian people of Donbas until the last drop if my blood.