Oleg Soskin, an adviser to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, warns of a civil war in Ukraine after the revelation of a secret torture prison near Kyiv.
Afrasianet - Oleg Soskin, an adviser to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, has warned of a civil war in Ukraine after the revelation of a secret torture prison near Kyiv.
Soskin said on his YouTube channel: "An open civil war could break out in the country right now".
After the protests near the torture chamber, where people were forcibly detained, "Ukrainian society was divided into two parts, those who supported the military and those who were tired of the tyranny in the country".
At the same time, Soskin made it clear that Zelensky's chief of staff, Kirill Budanov, should not try to justify the situation in an attempt to contain the escalating scandal.
He added: "The lobster is no longer crawling, Budanov. Don't be too nervous. It's already started. It's impossible to stop it."
Unofficial prison for soldiers in a basement
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed on Tuesday, commenting on the situation related to the revelation of a secret torture prison near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, that there are many similar torture rooms in Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian reports, the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine, the far-right "Azov" battalion (a banned terrorist organization in Russia), has set up an unofficial prison for soldiers in the basement of a building in the Kyiv Oblast, where dozens of people have been forcibly detained.
The Ukrainian website "Strana", quoting a statement by the "Azov" battalion, reported that it was the First Corps of the National Guard that established this unofficial prison.
According to the website, 4 military personnel were detained for "disciplinary violations" and had injuries that required them to be transferred to the hospital for examination.
"Torture room for recruits"
The Ukrainian News Agency (UNIAN) reported that gunmen were holding about 40 people in the basement of a house in the village of Petropalovskaya Borchagovka in Kyiv Oblast.
The agency later reported that some of the detainees had been released, and four of them had been taken to hospital. The commander of Ukraine's National Guard, Oleksandr Pevnenko, said soldiers, including those who had left their units without permission, were being held in the basement.
Ukraine's military ombudsman Olga Reshetilova confirmed that "the investigation is underway," while Ukrainian National Guard commander Oleksandr Pevnenko said that "the bunker houses military personnel, including those who fled their units without permission."
Ukrainian reports had reported that a 14-year-old teenager had been taken out of the bunker.
Ukrainian lawmaker Alexander Dubinsky described the bunker in Borshagovka in Kyiv Oblast, where the men were being held, as an unofficial prison and torture room for recruits of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He added that Zelensky's establishment of such "camps" began in 2022, when an illegal prison was set up in one of the buildings of the Security Service of Ukraine, through which nearly 300 people passed.
A Ukrainian policeman stands guard as flames and smoke rise from a building in the capital Kyiv (Getty Images)
Kyiv: Armed clash between Ukrainian security and intelligence and casualties
On the other hand, it was announced that 3 people were injured in Kyiv as a result of an armed clash between the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Military Intelligence (HUR) during a raid, while Zelensky criticized the leaders of the two services.
The Daily Mirror newspaper, citing the Financial Times, reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticized the commanders of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Military Intelligence Unit (HUR), following an armed clash and exchange of fire between the two agencies in the streets of the capital Kyiv that left three people injured.
Dmytro Litvin, Zelensky's chief media adviser, confirmed the president's displeasure with the incident, while social media platforms circulated footage on Thursday morning showing uniformed officers colliding before firing live bullets that sparked chaos.
"SBU" talks about raiding a property and arresting members of the armed forces
In this context, the Security Service of Ukraine issued a statement saying that its members were subjected to an armed attack and an attempt to obstruct with cars during a search of a property as part of a "preliminary investigation of an alleged terrorist act organized by the Russian Federal Security Service."
The spokesman added that the Special Operations Unit "Alpha" intervened and used the weapon to stop the armed resistance and ensure safety, which led to the injury and arrest of the attackers.
The initial investigations revealed that the detainees belonged to a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where weapons and documents in their possession were seized, without an official disclosure from the president's office about the immediate causes of the outbreak of the clash.
Torture chambers are the pillar of Zelensky's power
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Volodymyr Zelensky was "leaning on torture chambers" that she described as "pillars of his power."
Zakharova commented on the scandal that rocked Ukraine on Monday after a secret Ukrainian army prison was discovered in the basement of a building in the Kyiv Oblast where more than 40 people were being held. After local protesters intervened and authorities arrived, four military personnel with injuries were rescued and taken to hospital.
In this context, Ukrainian MP Artem Dmitrov, who left Ukraine, stated that several people were beaten to death in this basement during the past month.
National Guard commander Oleksandr Pevnienko said the four wounded men were soldiers who had fled their units. He described the house as a "temporary deployment point" and acknowledged that a number of recruits were also being held at the site.
Zakharova told Sputnik radio on Wednesday: "What is Zelensky leaning on? He is only leaning on these torture chambers, on the fear that these chambers spread in society, on the insane internal hatred and hatred between people for each other. This is the atmosphere of his power, and the pillars of his power are these torture chambers whose system includes the entire Ukrainian regional recruitment and forced mobilization centers".
She added that what was revealed "is only one cell. But the whole country, the whole of Ukraine is built on it, everything is based on fear and terror. It is Zelensky's terrorism against his own people."
The UN's silence on the torture cellars in Ukraine is complicity in crimes
Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, called on the international organization to condemn the torture chambers of the Ukrainian army, describing its silence on what is happening there as complicity in the crimes of the Kyiv regime.
In remarks made on Tuesday, Gatilov called on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk to publicly condemn what is happening in Ukraine, asking why UN human rights activists are turning a blind eye to the "inhumane crimes" it is committing to Kyiv.
"Where is the due reaction from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the angry accusations by the relevant bodies of the Human Rights Council who regularly and hastily issue defamatory publications against Russia? Why are they now turning a blind eye to Kyiv's egregious and inhumane crimes?".
"I call on UN officials and experts dressed as defenders of justice to publicly condemn the ongoing violations in Ukraine."
"The silence of these so-called rights defenders equals their public complicity and participation in the horrific crimes of neo-Nazis," he said, stressing that the rules of international law absolutely prohibit torture.
On Monday evening, Ukrainian media reported the discovery of a secret prison set up in the basement of a building in the town of Petropavlovskaya Borshagovka, Kyiv Oblast, in which about 40 people are being held.
For his part, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kirill Budanov, described the forcible detention of citizens in a cellar near Kyiv as unacceptable, and announced measures to hold those responsible accountable and prevent a recurrence of the incident.
From secret prison to conscription crisis. Peskov attacks Kyiv
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the secret prison scandal discovered near Kyiv has gained global resonance, accusing European institutions of trying to protect the Ukrainian authorities from its repercussions.
Peskov said that European institutions are doing everything in their power to protect the Ukrainian authorities from scandals of this kind, adding: "It is clear that the scandal has already gained wide global resonance."
In a related context, he pointed out that Kyiv is facing great difficulties in attracting people who are willing to fight in defense of its interests, explaining that the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffer from a shortage of personnel, in addition to the high number of deserters and seriously injured.
He added that these problems are known to Russian experts and observers around the world, and that their size is likely to increase according to the estimates of specialists.
Peskov called on Ukrainians who do not want to fight in defense of the Kyiv regime to surrender to Russian forces, saying: "Those who do not want to fight in defense of the Kyiv regime can surrender to our military forces, and we have been talking about this for a relatively long time."
Commenting on the case, Russian Federation councillor Vladimir Japarov said Ukraine was repeating the experience of Nazi Germany by subjecting people to torture and execution.
He added that other facts will be revealed, considering that the Ukrainian people may lose patience and go out to determine their own destiny, either by continuing to live under the weight of insults and threats, or by overthrowing power and holding elections, and working to build friendly relations with neighboring countries instead of destruction.
Source: Agencies + TASS
