IZIUM, Ukraine (Reuters) – Alexander Glushko says he spent the last fortnight of the Russian occupation of his hometown of Izium in northeastern Ukraine imprisoned by Russian soldiers in the ruins of a police station where he was tortured with electric cables. He also said he was beaten during a previous five-day stay in Russian captivity in May. When Russian troops withdrew from the city on September 9 and 10, he wept with joy as he and other prisoners were suddenly set free. While the discovery of burial sites with some 450 bodies has sparked investigations, Glushko is one of the first to speak out about the torture he says he endured under Russian occupation in Izium. A former soldier who fought for Kyiv against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine from 2018 to 2020 said he had been questioned by Moscow forces in Izium about the whereabouts of Ukrainian territorial defense personnel. “I had nothing to say to them. I started giving them misinformation. In short, I ended up like a vegetable,” the 53-year-old told Reuters. He said he could neither stand up nor speak after being detained and was hospitalized in Izium’s Central City Hospital for these conditions for a month and a half. Reuters was unable to independently verify some aspects of Glushko’s version of events, including the specifics of his torture. Reuters visited the hospital, which is located near the police station. The doctor treating Glushko was unable to speak to Reuters because he was operating on a patient, a nurse said. The hospital could not be reached for further comment by phone or email as there is no phone or online coverage at Izium. Asked about Glushko’s account of the torture, two neighbors, who did not give their names, said he had been arrested twice and was in very poor physical condition when he was brought back by residents the first time. The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. The story continues Russia has consistently denied that its troops have committed war crimes since its troops invaded Ukraine in February. On Monday, the Kremlin dismissed claims of such abuses in the Kharkiv region, where Izium is located, as “lies.” BURIAL GROUND Ukrainian officials say around 450 bodies – believed to be civilians – have been found in graves near Izium after Russian troops were forced out of the Kharkiv region, some of which they had controlled since the first weeks of the war. Of the 111 civilian bodies exhumed so far, four showed signs of torture, Serhiy Bolvinov, head of police investigation in the Kharkiv region, told Reuters at the burial site. Ukrainian police are trying to ascertain what happened during the six months of Russian occupation as they slowly regain control of Izium and the northeastern areas retaken in a counteroffensive this month. Bolvinov declined to comment on individual cases like Glusko’s, but said many investigations are ongoing. “We have recorded cases of torture, illegal detention and war crimes not only in Izium, but also in Balakliia, Kozacha Lopan and Vovchansk, Kupiansk and Shevchenkovo,” Bolvinov told Reuters, referring to other liberated settlements. “We have information about torture of civilians and illegal detention of civilians in places where the Russian armed forces were in Izium. We know these places,” he said. Much more comprehensive forensic work was still needed to assess the causes and circumstances of death of the people whose bodies have been discovered so far, he said. Russian officials have not responded to Reuters requests for comment on his remarks. Bolvinov spoke to Reuters on Monday at a cemetery on the edge of town, where medical examiners are digging up graves of 445 war dead to find out how they died. A grave of 17 Ukrainian soldiers was also found. FOR THE DEAD Glushko, who lives alone in an apartment in Izium, said he believed Russian troops came to his home in May because someone had tipped them off that he had previously served in the Ukrainian army against Russian-backed separatists. After finding his military papers, soldiers took him to a basement not far from the hospital with a bag over his head where they beat him for five days, he said. His hands and feet were tied behind his back throughout the five days in a torture position known in law enforcement and security circles in the former Soviet Union as “the swallow” and he was given no food or water, he said. One of the Russian soldiers secretly gave him water without the others seeing, he said, and he was eventually released by his captors – only to be found by bystanders. “They dragged me down the road and left me in the bushes. Maybe they thought I was going to die,” he said. As a result of the May episode, Glushko can now only walk with difficulty using a cane. He said the second time they came to find him, in August, he was at home watching a DVD in a T-shirt and underwear. He was taken to the police station in these clothes, with a bag over his head. The second time he was arrested, he said he was electrocuted and no marks were left. He had a small scratch on his knuckles that had been infected by the belly of the cell. He had a bandage on his right arm, which he said was another infected wound. After the Russians left, he and other prisoners were released from their cells on September 10 by an unknown person, he said. “I cried for joy with the first (Ukrainian) soldier I saw. I had already started to say goodbye to myself. I cried and said ‘brother, can I hug you?’” he said. (Reporting by Tom Balmforth Editing by Angus MacSwan and Jon Boyle)
