Russian military abducts, tortures people in Kherson region

"I urge you to send representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to the Kherson region to provide humanitarian assistance to illegally detained civilians, fix their place of residence and help stop torture and release them from prison cells as soon as possible," Dementiy Bilyi, head of the Kherson regional department of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, posted the corresponding appeal on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

According to Bilyi, Russian invaders kidnap, beat, and torture civilians in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, in particular in Kherson region.

The number of people abducted by the occupiers is unknown. Eyewitnesses give examples of dozens of cases when the occupiers go to people's apartments and houses, conduct illegal searches, grab people, beat them. 

Peaceful citizens are defenseless against brute force.  They are not provided with legal assistance, judicial protection, their basic human rights and freedoms are ignored.

The occupiers hold the abducted people in prison cells in Kherson. The fate of many civilians has been unknown for many days.

The head of the Kherson regional department of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine also addressed the relatives of the abducted people and called on them to contact the hotline of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mission in Ukraine in order to activate the relevant mechanisms of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

As reported, residents of Kherson region regularly hold peaceful protests against the Russian aggressor. The Russian military uses force and weapons against people. Ukrainians are being wounded and detained.

Russian aggressors also abduct civilians in the region, including journalists, community leaders, members of local councils, and activists.

On February 24, Russian president Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops shell and destroy key infrastructure, massively fire on residential areas of Ukrainian cities, towns, and villages using artillery, MLRS, and ballistic missiles.