Former DNR fighter who tortured people in the Izolyatsia prison detained in Kyiv

Law enforcement also identified 45 people involved in torture in the illegal prison.

In Kyiv, Denys Kulikovskyi, the chief war criminal of the Izolyatsia prison run by militants in Donetsk, has been detained.

The Interior Ministry also exposed 45 members of an organized criminal group involved in torture and abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war and detainees held in the Izolyatsia prison run by Donetsk militants.

Here is what is known at this point.

The detention of "Palych"

In Kyiv, the chief war criminal of the illegal Izolyatsia prison run by militants, Denys Kulikovskyi, was detained.

The detention of the militant was first reported on Facebook by journalist and writer Stanislav Aseyev.

Stanislav Aseyev
journalist, former prisoner of Izolyatsia

In Kyiv, the chief war criminal of Izolyatsia — Kulikovskyi Denys, also known as Palych, has been detained. Now I can say that I have not lived my life in vain. P.S. Dear fellow journalists, please refrain from calling for now, all details will come later.

More about torture in Izolyatsia can be read in Aseyev's interview.

Later, the SBU counterintelligence service also confirmed the detention of the militant.

Artem Dekhtyarenko
SBU spokesperson

At present, procedural actions prescribed by law are being carried out against the former militant. In particular, his transfer to court for a decision on a preventive measure, as well as obtaining additional information about his unlawful activities.

According to the security service, this man organized and directly participated in the murders and torture of imprisoned citizens of Ukraine.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Artem Shevchenko says that a pre-trial investigation under four articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine against Denys "Palych" Kulikovskyi is being conducted by investigators of the National Police,

According to Shevchenko, suspicions were brought against the militant in absentia a year ago, on October 29, 2020.

Police investigators charge the detainee with:

• Article 149 "Human trafficking"
• Article 258-3 "Creation of a terrorist group or terrorist organization"
• Article 260 "Creation of unlawful paramilitary or armed formations"
• Article 438 "Violation of the laws and customs of war"

At the same time, the details and motives of the terrorist's arrival in Kyiv remain unknown.

45 other suspects

In addition to detaining the ringleader, police also identified 45 members of an organized criminal group involved in torture and abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war and detainees held in Izolyatsia.

Denys Monastyrskyi
Interior Minister of Ukraine

Izolyatsia is a former factory in the so-called "DNR" that militants equipped as a base and prison. For more than a year, investigators, together with the migration police, have been investigating the terrible crimes committed by "Palych" against people.

Monastyrskyi noted that after the return of Izolyatsia prisoners to territory under government control, police spoke with each victim of the militants.

The victims said they were tortured with electric current applied to their genitals, placed in a coffin and beaten with nails driven into them, subjected to sexual violence, had their bones broken, were subjected to mock executions, and more.

Police carried out identifications and finally established 45 members of this organized criminal group. In September of this year, materials against 8 war criminals were sent to court for in absentia conviction.