Ukrainian political prisoner Volodymyr Balukh shared ghastly details about surviving torture in Russian prisons during his first press conference on Sept. 16 in Kyiv, nine days after his release in a prisoner exchange with Russia.
For the first time, Balukh and his lawyers showed a video filmed in spring 2019 in which Balukh talks about torture and threats of sexual violence that he endured in a prison in the town of Torzhok in Russia’s Tver Oblast.
“There was everything: beatings, pillowcases over the head, being doused with water, stun guns, getting my feet whipped. The pillowcase is doused with water, and they beat your ears. And threats of sexual violence when a stun gun is inserted into the anus…,” Balukh said in the video. “The only goal is to break down a person’s morale, to subjugate, to humiliate.”
Another time, he was severely beaten upon transfer to a prison in Tver, a provincial capital of 400,000 people located about 200 kilometers northwest of Moscow.
Balukh said his health deteriorated due to torture and poor prison conditions.
“I have joint pain, liver pain, and constant headaches. It was so cold. I froze through to my bones in the first five days,” he said.
Now back in Kyiv, Balukh is undergoing medical treatment. Speaking at the press conference, he thanked “everyone who contributed to my release and prayed for me.”
As for the future, Balukh said he wants to build up Ukraine, but does not have anything specific in mind yet.
The Ukrainian government has promised to provide Balukh and other Crimean political prisoners with apartments in Kyiv, since it is impossible for them to return to the occupied peninsula.
The 2014 annexation of Crimea turned local farmer Balukh into an activist. He expressed his pro-Ukraine stance by adorning his house in the Serebryanka village located in the northwest part of the peninsula with a Ukrainian flag and a plaque that read “The Heavenly Hundred Street,” referring to protesters killed during the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution.
In December 2016, Balukh was arrested and charged with illegally storing ammunition and explosives. He denied the accusations, saying they were fabricated. He was sentenced to 3 years and 7 months in prison. The verdict was later overturned and the case was reopened, but Balukh remained in custody.
Then, in spring 2018, the Kremlin-appointed authorities opened a new criminal case against Balukh for allegedly beating the head of the temporary detention where he was held. The charges were brought after Balukh’s defense filed a complaint against the head of the detention center for insulting the prisoner, humiliating him for his Ukrainian nationality, and hitting him.
In July that year, a Crimean court found Balukh guilty of both crimes and sentenced him to five years in prison and a fine of 10,000 rubles ($150).
In protest of his conviction, Balukh went on a hunger strike for over six months.
