A BBC World Service investigation has identified detention‑centre officials accused of torture, sexual abuse and other mistreatment of civilians in parts of Ukraine occupied since 2014. The report names Yurii Temerbek, now 56, a former Ukrainian traffic policeman who joined Russian‑backed separatists, and two other men whom former detainees accuse of abusing prisoners; the men appear to be living with their families in Russia and occupied Ukraine. Liudmyla Huseinova, 64, tells the BBC she was seized in October 2019, held for three years and 13 days and taken to Izolyatsia, where she says guards forced detainees to stand from 06:00 to 22:00, shone bright lights at night and subjected her to sexual assault. The UN human rights office says torture and ill treatment in these detention centres is systematic and widespread, with former detainees reporting beatings, electric shocks and mock executions. The UN added Russia to its blacklist of countries suspected of committing sexual violence in conflict zones in May this year; the Kremlin dismissed the listing as groundless. Ukrainian authorities say more than 16,000 civilians have been taken captive or disappeared since 2014 and 2022; survivors quoted by the BBC say naming alleged perpetrators is a step toward holding them to account.
