Until 8 January 2016, the ‘ministry of state security of LPR’ (MSS) was located in the former tax police building at Hradusova Street in Luhansk. Several months ago, this organization moved to the SSU building at 79 Radyanska Street.

According to witnesses, there were hundreds of prisoners at the LPR MSS at Hradusova. In particular, there are reports of detaining ‘particularly dangerous’ people in the basement of the building. However, there are no direct testimonies from former prisoners there. There are eyewitnesses who told about detention at the first floor.

View to Hradusova Street from the corner with Raskova, kartagoroda.com.ua

Conditions of detention

One of the rooms, where a woman interviewed by Coalition representatives was detained, was 4 by 4 meters in size. It had a sofa, two desks, and a small cabinet. The vent pane was covered with a flap so the prisoner would not see people outside. It was very cold despite there being a radiator, so the prisoner had to sleep in a jacket. They gave her a blanket which, she says, had a very bad smell.

It was a walk-through room, and other detainees were taken to the next-door room through this one. Opposite of the room, there was a toilet. The prisoners were taken there on demand - during convoy one had to held his/her hands behind their back. They took prisoners to the toilet three times a day, at 8 a.m. after breakfast, at 2 p.m. during lunch, and at 7 p.m.

The guards poured water in plastic bottles upon demand. The prisoners was fed three times a day, she also received sweet tea. However, people in the next room could be fed less frequently. Therefore, the prisoner spread porridge on bread, wrapped it in a newspaper, and shoved in under the door:

They brought this porridge which… I couldn’t eat at all. Later, since I hadn’t eaten for two months, they started bringing me some liquid meals, stuff they were eating. I lost a lot of weight there… In general, the rule there was to give food three times a day, but then they had a big problem with food supply, and they started feeding people twice a day. I gave what they brought me to the boys through the floor, through the door.

Prisoners had serious hygiene issues:

They didn’t take [me] to have shower, which really upset me. For about a month and a half, they simply did not take [me] to the shower. Only later they started to do it, but only once a week, or in 10 days. They brought me a change of clothes only two months laters.

At the same time, according to the witness, she was treated better than other because of her gender and health issues. There was medical aid provided; the MSS had its own medical unit working at any time (until 6 p.m. during weekends). Doctors and nurses were responsible in their work, as much as possible and permitted by the MSS rules. If a person felt bad at night, they would call an ambulance. However, it was not allowed to hospitalize prisoners, take them outside of the MSS building.

There was no contact with the outside world. There was a ban on packages with food and medication from acquaintances. It was not allowed to call the next of kin and tell them about the location (‘they let me call in 3.5 months… after I sent a request to the minister of state security’).

Nobody was subjected to forced labor at the MSS.

Interrogations and violence

In a Kafkian manner, the prisoner was held at the MSS for months without any charges. There were interrogations, some lasted over 12 hours. The MSS staff wanted to finish these actions as soon as possible and let the person go. However, they did not, and everything started from the beginning. Two months later, a new investigator came, but it did not facilitate quick release. In general, the victims described the situation in the following manner: they did not know what to do with her, but they could not attempt to let her go.

Interrogations took place on the third floor of the building. The prisoners heard how other arrestees were brought to the courtyard and humiliated on their way to the investigator. Some people were brought with signs of beatings.

In most cases, people did not stay at the MSS for a long time. Detainees spent several days or couple weeks there and were transferred to other detention facilities.