Journalist Reports Hundreds of Claims About Secret Prisons in Ukraine

By Staff, Agencies

More than 1,000 people have reportedly contacted Ukrainian investigative journalist Diana Panchenko following the exposure of an alleged torture facility near Kiev, providing information about the locations of other suspected secret detention sites across the country.

In a Telegram post on Sunday, Panchenko described what she called a “system of torture chambers” in Ukraine, citing accounts from individuals who claimed to have escaped from such facilities.

The allegations emerged after a suspected black site linked to the neo-Nazi-affiliated Azov unit was exposed in the village of Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka, near Kiev.

The discovery sparked public outrage and a riot outside a private house, where dozens of military deserters were allegedly tortured and held for ransom.

Four injured men were reportedly taken from the facility to hospital, while a 14-year-old boy also emerged in a state of severe shock.

Panchenko said the accounts she had received were disturbing but necessary to understand what she described as the situation Ukraine had become under President Vladimir Zelensky.

One account, which RT said it had not independently verified, alleged that a secret prison operates in the western city of Rovno.

The letter described a facility surrounded by barbed wire, with armed guards stationed at its entrance, where approximately 30 men were allegedly held in four small rooms.

The account claimed that detainees were beaten before being taken away and that release was not granted freely, but could allegedly be secured by paying large sums of money.

Another person reportedly informed Panchenko of a suspected torture facility at 6 Novaya Street in the settlement of Borodyanka, in Kiev Region.

The account alleged that detainees were abused and threatened with transfer to the 425th Separate Assault Regiment, known as “Skelia”, or execution near a river.

Panchenko has promised to publish an investigation into the allegations and disclose the locations of the suspected facilities.

The journalist, a critic of corruption and restrictions on freedom of expression under Zelensky, has been working in exile since Kiev imposed personal sanctions against her in 2023 and initiated criminal proceedings over her reporting.

Meanwhile, Kirill Budanov, head of Zelensky’s office, acknowledged that there were “many” black sites across Ukraine while attempting to ease tensions in Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka on Friday. The allegations concerning the other facilities and the accounts cited by Panchenko have not been independently verified.