this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2025
35 points (97.3% liked)

Europe

4114 readers
2278 users here now

News and information from Europe 🇪🇺

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in [email protected]. (They're cool, you should subscribe there too!)
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)

(This list may get expanded when necessary.)

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the mods: @[email protected], @[email protected], or @[email protected].

founded 8 months ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
35
‘I’d never heard of this type of torture before’ Human rights observer says Russia’s first monitoring mission in Ukraine documented the Kremlin’s evolving state terror system (meduza.io)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
2 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

In January 2025, Memorial Human Rights Center members visited Ukraine and conducted the first monitoring mission by Russian observers since the start of the full-scale invasion. They visited the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions, along with the cities of Poltava and Odesa. During the trip, Memorial’s team documented violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes committed by the Russian army. The group plans to present its findings later this spring. Meduza spoke with Memorial observer Vladimir Malykhin about what he saw in Ukraine and why the monitoring mission is crucial to improving our understanding of contemporary Russia.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

The quote in the title is buried all the way at the bottom, it seemingly references the story in this article;

Q: The war in Ukraine has basically unfolded live on television. With so much already available online, was there anything you encountered on this trip that surprised you?

A: Strictly speaking, I wasn’t at the front. We were behind Ukrainian lines. It’s true that a lot is already known about this war — there are countless documents, photos, videos, and firsthand accounts from participants and witnesses. Overall, I didn’t come across anything fundamentally new that I hadn’t heard about before. But, of course, reading about something in the news and hearing about it directly from those who lived through it — especially the victims — is an entirely different experience. One story that struck me particularly hard was from a former Ukrainian prisoner of war who described the torture he endured. At a prison in Mordovia, where he was held, POWs were forced to stand with their hands behind their heads, facing a wall, without moving. From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with only short breaks — for six months. Later, the conditions were somewhat relaxed. While it’s well documented that a vast number of POWs have been tortured in Russia, I’d never heard of this specific type of torture before.