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Torture facilities are nothing new and were operating across Ukraine before 2022, Andrea Lucidi, an independent military correspondent working in Donbass, tells Sputnik, commenting on the exposure of an Azov* torture chamber in the Kiev region on November 2.

"During my years working in Donbass, I visited the former SBU [the Security Service of Ukraine] detention facility, which, according to witnesses, was located at Mariupol airport," Lucidi says.Former detainees interviewed by Lucidi said prisoners were beaten and subjected to mock executions, during which shots were fired close to their heads while they were covered with black bags. Sleep deprivation was also used as a method of torture, while detainees were kept in large numbers inside refrigerated rooms.Lucidi referred to the double standards of Ukraine's Western partners, who continue to finance the country's military sector despite human rights abuses in Ukraine.Attempts by Western media to ignore the incident or dismiss it as "Russian propaganda" have a clear incentive: to prevent the European public from questioning the rationale behind arming Ukraine, according to the pundit.Azov is "a formation with clear historical ties to neo-Nazi and neo-fascist movements, which, moreover, is accused of operating clearly illegal detention facilities, hidden in plain sight among civilian residential buildings," he stresses.*Banned as a terrorist organization in Russia

ukraine, kiev, donbass, ukrainian security service (sbu), security service of ukraine, us, europe, human rights, torture

"The testimonies I collected indicate that this facility was jointly operated by the SBU and Azov and that torture was carried out inside."

Former detainees interviewed by Lucidi said prisoners were beaten and subjected to mock executions, during which shots were fired close to their heads while they were covered with black bags. Sleep deprivation was also used as a method of torture, while detainees were kept in large numbers inside refrigerated rooms.

Lucidi referred to the double standards of Ukraine's Western partners, who continue to finance the country's military sector despite human rights abuses in Ukraine.

"The EU has clear rules: funding entities that violate human rights is prohibited," he says. "The incident that unfolded during the night of November 2 has received only marginal media coverage."

Attempts by Western media to ignore the incident or dismiss it as "Russian propaganda" have a clear incentive: to prevent the European public from questioning the rationale behind arming Ukraine, according to the pundit.

Azov is "a formation with clear historical ties to neo-Nazi and neo-fascist movements, which, moreover, is accused of operating clearly illegal detention facilities, hidden in plain sight among civilian residential buildings," he stresses.

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