The former head of the torture prison in Donetsk was sentenced to 15 years

The court in Kyiv sentenced the former head of the prison in Donetsk, Denys Kulikovsky, to 15 years in prison. There were numerous reports of torture and mockery of prisoners from this prison.

As Suspilne newspaper reports from the courtroom, Kulikovsky was found guilty of terrorism and violation of the laws and customs of war. The term of imprisonment will be counted from the moment he was placed in custody in November 2019. He was also sentenced to confiscation of property.

The representatives of the court explained that the charge of terrorism was brought because of cooperation with the authorities of the so-called “DNR” (a recognized terrorist organization in Ukraine), and the charge of violation of the laws of war – because of the brutal treatment of the civilian population.

The underground prison in Donetsk, known as “Isolation”, was controlled by separatist forces. Kulikovsky was its chief in 2015-2018. People kidnapped by separatists were kept there. Human rights activists and former prisoners themselves have reported many times about torture and violence in “Isolation”, including those that ended in the death of prisoners. Independent observers, representatives of the Red Cross and human rights groups were not allowed into the prison. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, at least 3,500 people suffered at the hands of those who abducted, kept and interrogated people in “Isolation”

Denys Kulikovsky was detained by the Security Service of Ukraine at the beginning of November 2021 in Kyiv. Kulikovsky’s ex-wife claimed that he fled from the separatist-controlled territory of the Donetsk region to Russia in 2019. How he ended up in Ukraine again is not specified.