SSU investigators and prosecutors of the Prosecutor General’s Office have gathered evidence of war crimes against Serhii Kot, an inspector of the supervision and regime division of Pretrial Detention Centre No. 2 in the city of Vyazma, Smolensk Oblast, russian federation.

Earlier this spring, the SSU notified the head and the division chief of this facility in absentia of suspicion for organizing mass torture against Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Investigators have now documented the involvement of their subordinate, Serhii Kot, in torturing Armed Forces servicemen who were illegally held in the russian pretrial detention centre since the beginning of the full-scale war.

It was established that the perpetrator personally inflicted numerous blows with his hands and feet on Ukrainian prisoners, and also used a PR-73 type rubber baton and a stun gun against them.

Following the torture, the ruscists left the victims without medical care in overcrowded cells of the detention facility.

These actions constitute a severe breach of Articles 4, 13, 14, and 15 of the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which explicitly forbid any unlawful act or omission by a Detaining Power that is carried out by a group and seriously endangers the health of prisoners in its custody.

Based on the collected evidence, SSU investigators have notified Serhii Kot in absentia of suspicion under Article 438.1 of the CCU (war crimes).

Comprehensive measures are underway to bring him to justice for the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The investigation was conducted under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine.