Liberated Ukraine city carries scars of battle. Video / AP
Warning: Graphic content
Ghastly photos have emerged of Russian "torture chambers" after Ukraine liberated territories in the eastern part of the country.
More than 10 "torture rooms" were discovered in various towns in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Saturday.
"As the occupiers fled, they also dropped the torture devices," Zelensky said.
"Even at the regular Kozacha Lopan railway station, they found a room for torture, found tools for electric torture," he said.
Grim photos show steel cages allegedly used by Russians to house prisoners in a basement.
The 'torture chambers' discovered in Ukraine. Photo / Lesia Vasylenko/Twitter
The makeshift prisons were purportedly used by Russian forces to subject people to "inhumane torture". Ukrainian officials alleged that Soviet-era radio telephones had been used as a power source to shock prisoners.
"The Russian army tortured people in the cellar of the so-called 'people's militia' in the town of Kozacha Lopan when it was under siege," the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on social media.
The Lord's Prayer was carved on the wall by Ukrainian prisoners. Photo / Defence of Ukraine/Twitter
"Representatives of the Russian Federation created a pseudo-law enforcement agency, in the basement of which a torture chamber was set up, where civilians were subjected to inhumane torture.
"During the inspection, documents confirming the functioning of the pseudo-police department and the device with which the occupiers tortured civilians with electric shock were seized."
Electric shock torture
A horrific account of torture in the city of Balakliya was given by a resident who gave his name as Artem.
He told the BBC he was held by Russian forces for more than 40 days and tortured with electric shocks.
Artem said he could hear screams from other prisoners as they were also tortured.
The grim torture chambers were found in basements in regions formerly occupied by Russia. Photo / Lesia Vasylenko/Twitter
In an apparent move to spread dread, the Russians allegedly turned off the building's noisy ventilation to ensure the screams could be heard.
"They turned it off so everyone could hear how people scream when they are shocked with electricity," Artem said.
"They did this to some of the prisoners every other day … They even did this to the women."
"There was an electric generator. The faster it went, the higher the voltage. They said, 'If you let it go, you are finished.' Then they started asking questions. They said I was lying, and they started spinning it even more and the voltage increased."
