Ban on showing pain, tapik torture, and jumping on chest: Former prisoner of war details russian torture of Ukrainian captives

russian forces, in blatant violation of all established norms and international conventions, continue to subject Ukrainian prisoners of war to brutal and systematic torture. The methods used vary depending on the location where prisoners are held, with different detention sites employing different forms of abuse.

This was revealed by Maksym Kolesnikov, a Ukrainian veteran and former prisoner of war, during the presentation of Amnesty International’s latest report at Media Center Ukraine.

“While we were in russian captivity, every single one of us—both those who have returned and those still held—were subjected to a routine procedure known as ‘the check,’ which took place twice a day,” Kolesnikov explained. “Twice a day, at set times, everyone was forced to line up inside their cells in complete silence—this was a non-negotiable rule imposed by the guards. We stood without a word, waiting to be taken out of the cells to be counted—and tortured. This was part of a systematic, pre-planned procedure.

But the most harrowing part isn’t when you’re out in the corridor being beaten. The hardest part is standing there for an hour and a half, sometimes two, while you’re forced to listen to your brothers-in-arms being tortured nearby,” the veteran recounted. “You stand there and you hear the muffled cries, the desperate screams. You hear people being ordered to do 200 push-ups after months of near-starvation. And when they can’t manage, they’re beaten with a stun gun—they call it ‘recharging.’ This is standard practice. And so you stand there, listening, while your heart races. That hour and a half, two hours—it’s torture in itself.”

According to Kolesnikov, prisoners were strictly forbidden from showing any signs of pain. “There was an absolute prohibition on screaming or even groaning,” he said. “Any sound—every scream, every moan—was punished with additional beatings using stun guns, police batons, or plastic pipes.”

Kolesnikov also spoke about the torture endured by his fellow detainees, both military personnel and civilians, who were held in different parts of russia.

He shared the story of a man, a firefighter in civilian life, who was captured by russian forces while helping evacuate civilians from Bucha. That man was tortured using an electrocution device known as a tapik, a Soviet-era military field telephone, the TA-57.

“They tied him to the tapik, which is essentially a communication device that delivers low-voltage electric shocks, and they cranked it for a full hour,” Kolesnikov said.

The former prisoner of war noted that every time he meets with fellow soldiers and acquaintances who have been released from russian captivity, he learns of even more sadistic methods of torture employed by russian forces.

In Mordovia, for example, prisoners were forced to wear rubber suits all day long, even in extreme heat. In Taganrog, detainees were subjected to particularly cruel abuse—guards stomped and jumped on prisoners’ chests. 

“A fellow marine I was held with told me how one of his fellow captives  was killed right at the intake facility in Taganrog,” Kolesnikov said. “They simply jumped on him, breaking his ribs, puncturing his internal organs—and he died right there on the spot.”

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news