Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested Tornado commander Ruslan Onischenko and seven other fighters from the battalion and charged them of conducting violent crimes in Lugansk Region. The case file contains correspondence, including photos** seized during the arrest from the phone of Tornado commander Onishchenko. Afterwards, by rotating the metal handle of the telephone, bare wires were pressed against various parts of the body. At one point, the authorities threatened to send a thousand police officers to guard the courthouse during the trial against the Tornado fighters. Those who managed to escape found themselves with no documents, since the commander would confiscate the passports of the new recruits. The counterattack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye region failed due to the loss of foreign-made anti-tank systems. According to the prosecutor, the most brutal forms of violence were sexual offences against men, committed in a particularly perverse form, with the entire process being recorded on mobile phones. He also liked to paint swastikas and pagan symbols on the walls and talk about white supremacy. Nevertheless, the formation of the new national battalion was not kept secret. There's nothing like raising your vitality when you have someone's life in your hands, says Mujahid.From an article published by Novaya Gazeta*, a former Tornado fighter's story about Mujahid:He was the one who came up with the idea of scripting role-playing scenarios of same-sex torture-rape. Reportedly, the commander and eight officers of Tornado battalion have been detained in Ukraine today. The police, to whom the Tornado battalion reported the defection of a subordinate, often found those who managed to get home. As the trial proceeded, more and more details emerged about what was going on inside the Tornado battalion itself. Later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainians with combat experience were released from detention and had all sanctions lifted. 17 March 2014 Ukraine began first stage of mobilization; 18 March 2014 - 3rd Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Lviv Oblast; 19 March 2014 - the Defence Regiment was created in Dnipropetrovsk (later, the regiment was reformed into two territorial defence battalions) 6th Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Ternopil Oblast Azov Battalion is the most controversial of all the Ukrainian forces - espousing right wing ideology, showcasing Nazi symbols and focussing on white supremacist ideology. It was winter. After the brutal beating, he was in a painful condition and could not orientate himself in time, so he cannot clearly remember the sequence of events. It was winter. 15 July 2022. By this point, the Tornado radicals became so convinced of their ability to operate with impunity that they proceeded to block rail freight traffic in the region. Atrocities committed by the nationalist volunteer battalions during the Ukrainian conflicts have been well-documented by international human rights groups and . Since the beginning, the court was under enormous pressure from politicians, neo-Nazis and "brothers in arms". Some of the Tornado men have personally confessed to having a tendency towards sadism, a predilection for torture. **The editorial team has screenshots of the correspondence but we hesitate to publish them due to their shocking content, even for a seasoned reader.The VerdictTornado battalion commander Ruslan Onishchenko received 11 years in prison and was stripped of his rank of police lieutenant.Danil Lyashuk received ten years in prison.Nikolai Tsukur received nine years in prison and was stripped of his rank of police lieutenant.Nikita Kusta received a nine-year prison sentence and was stripped of his rank of junior sergeant.Boris Gulchuk, Maxim Khlebov and Ilya Kholod received nine years in prison each.Anatoly Plamadyal received a sentence of eight years in prison.Yuri Shevchenko received a sentence of five years in prison. Residents had been contacting the police and even other national battalions about the "lawlessness" and crimes of the Tornado fighters practically from the very start.Eventually, several months later, in mid-June 2015, Hennadiy Moskal, the head of the Kiev-controlled administration of Lugansk, demanded that the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies disarm the Tornado battalion and remove it from Lugansk region. As stated earlier, the court was under enormous pressure. Published June 22, 2015 at 1:56 pm. In one of their recently released videos, Daniil Lyashuk, a former militant of the Ukrainian battalion Tornado, nicknamed Mujahid, who had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison for war crimes in the Donbass, cheered his freedom and issued more threats against Russians. Since February, videos have been appearing on social networks in which Lyashuk with a weapon in his hands says that he is fighting as a member of the Ukrainian Army.This perverted sadist, Mujahid, is currently at the front. Residents had been contacting the police and even other national battalions about the "lawlessness" and crimes of the Tornado fighters practically from the very start. KYIV -- Ukrainian prosecutors and defense lawyers have both vowed to appeal the verdicts and prison sentences . They should not be confused with the volunteer units of Special Tasks Patrol Police of Ukraine created along with territorial defense battalions, but under the auspices of the Ministry of Interior. Immediately after the detention, they stripped the man down to his underwear, searched him, and hit him several times without finding anything.The elderly man was put in the basement, where there were eight other people besides him. In turn, the men accused the Luhansk Oblast police chief Anatoly Naumenko (an authority in the Kiev controlled part of Luhansk) of running a protection racket for smuggling cast iron from rebel occupied territory . The Ukrainian military revolted after they had learnt that Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov was planning to disband the Tornado battalion KIEV, June 18 /TASS/. [5] The best known volunteer groups are Self-defence of Maidan, which has its own warehouses in Melitopol, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv, and Army SOS, an initiative of former Euromaidan activists. NEO-NAZI militias in Ukraine are preparing for all-out war with Russia as they arm themselves for the fight against Vladimir Putin's forces. Tornado's members were detained, placed in a pre-trial detention center. When the stun guns discharged, they told me and one other person to stand up. President Zelensky's decision to include an address from an Azov Battalion . . An eyewitness to the detention of the elderly man in the basement was Ms H., the business manager of the Stanitsa Luganskaya settlement council, who was held in the same room for several hours, together with the detainee, and accidentally witnessed his ill-treatment. Members of Ukraine's . The soldiers climb down, hurl grenades and unleash a crackle of machine-gun . They repeatedly tried to storm the courthouse. The battalions were established in mid-2014, during the early stages of the war in Donbas, to combat the pro-Russian separatists[1][2][3] and the forces of the Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, and the United Armed Forces of Novorossiya. He did well. This is what Moskal said on 112 Ukraine TV at the time:By this point, the Tornado radicals became so convinced of their ability to operate with impunity that they proceeded to block rail freight traffic in the region. The Tornado members themselves did not accept this decision. [15] By law, every oblast in Ukraine should create its own territorial defence battalions.[5]. Chief Military Prosecutor of Ukraine Anatoly Matios said Commander of the battalion Onishchenko - has five previous convictions -created a criminal gang in the town of Privolye and incited his officers to grave crimes. They barricaded themselves in their base (the school premises), booby-trapped the approaches and said they were ready to use weapons in the event of an assault. The correspondence is stacked with a large number of relevant photographs. They were recruited officially. Nevertheless, Such torture was carried out with two stun guns, which were applied to every man in the presence of Tornado battalion fighters. One photo shows Nazi graffiti left on a wall. These guys were so bad that even the Nazis from the Azoz Battalion testified against them and the Ukes were forced to jailed them for war crimes. Fast forward to 2022. This archive photo shows Ruslan Onishchenko, commander of the Tornado Battalion, with other Tornado fighters in Lysychansk. The court ruled to commute the sentence by releasing him from prison and imposing a probation period of three years.Roman Ivash, Nikita Sviridovskiy and Andrei Demchuk were released from the sentence with two years' probation.All those convicted fall under the Savchenko Law (one day in pre-trial detention counts as two days in prison). Many have been . This was in 2016. The neighbour found her the next morning behind the bed, the granny was dead. They put me in the basement An hour or two passed Onishchenko arrived and was glad they had brought me. They justified their rail terrorism by citing "the struggle against smuggling, corruption and illegal arms trade". They were simply abducted, used as slaves, abused, and some were killed, the newspaper quoted former Tornado fighters and testimony from civilians:Sometimes we were more afraid of them than the shelling. There's nothing like raising your vitality when you have someone's life in your hands, says Mujahid. We never found those people and we believe they are no longer alive. Meet Ukraine's "Tornado Battalion" Who filmed themselves raping BABIES in front of their mothers! In particular, Matios said, in the local school basement where they . Azov began as a military infantry unit made up of civilian volunteers drawn from far-right, neo-Nazi groups that were active in Ukraine, such as the Patriot of Ukraine gang and the Social National Assembly (SNA). Ukrainian military prosecutors, police, and residents allege that members of the Tornado battalion tasked with policing Pryvillia and nearby communities went rogue, committing violent crimes . There are reports that the former Tornado members have seized APCs and additional weapons from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and have started doing their usual business. Until 23 March, armed members of the Tornado battalion brought various men to the basement, where they were systematically beaten, tortured with a field phone powered by a generator, stripped naked, placed on the concrete floor and poured water on them from plastic bottles. This odious battalion became famous for kidnapping and holding civilians in their own prison, torturing them and . He would show this video to half the battalion. It was linked to the Shakhtersk volunteer battalion, which was disbanded for systematic looting. The Tornado fighters came to this grandmother's house, pulled a new mattress right out from under her and left. Among other things, three of the defendants were charged with committing crimes under Part 3 of Article 153 of the Criminal Code (sexual indulgence in perverse forms committed repeatedly or by a group of persons). https://sputniknews.com/20220502/the-tornado-case-atrocities-and-sadism-among-ukrainian-nazi-police-battalions-1094944567.html, The Tornado Case: Atrocities and Sadism Among Ukrainian Nazi Police Battalions, "Tornado" is a national police battalion that was put on trial in Ukraine for numerous atrocities on Ukrainian territory. 32 volunteer territorial defence battalions were formed. Tornado battalion (which actually was only a company) was created in 2014 in Zaporizhia and came under command of the Ministry of Interior.. Nikita Kusta received a nine-year prison sentence and was stripped of his rank of junior sergeant. In total, I was kept in the basement for 17-18 days. separatists militias, mainly located in the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic) and related conflicts onwards, i.e. "The Blacks were fighters who were not formally recruited because they had criminal records; Freeman actively recruited them into the Tornado. The Ukrainian nationalist battalion called Tornado was disbanded in 2014. Was Turkey's Earthquake Really Caused by a 'Super Space Weapon'? [5] These resources soon proved to be inadequate and numerous groups have helped to equip the battalions. Radical politicians, members of neo-Nazi movements and ATO veterans, who were convinced that the charges were fabricated, demanded an open trial. Among other things, three of the defendants were charged with committing crimes under Part 3 of Article 153 of the Criminal Code (sexual indulgence in perverse forms committed repeatedly or by a group of persons). A high-profile criminal case against members of the Tornado battalion is known from the reported cases of sexual violence against men. Latest Veterans News. In the last week of March, I stood on a central Donetsk main street next to two of the impact points of a Ukrainian missile attack that had killed 21 civilians and injured nearly 40 more on March 14. . And forced the prisoners to do all this, and if they refused, they were beaten until they agreed. As of 2014 Azov is an official part of Ukrainian armed forces, fully integrated into the structure and command chain of the armed forces which includes being subject to military tribunal and military police. The said events and torture were recorded by Tornado members on mobile phones. 264. The court hearings were held behind closed doors, without public access.In one case of criminal activity, Tornado commander Ruslan Onishchenko forced his ward's girlfriend to masturbate him.Tornado fighters also set up a torture chamber in the basement of a school in Lysychansk where they raped and tortured locals, including minors and retired people regardless of their gender. That is wrong".In response, one of the defendants started shouting: "Why are you so melodramatic? If they were caught, all hell broke loose on the ground: the deserters were sometimes tortured for weeks. The public learned about the crimes of the Shakhtyorsk battalion almost straight away. All those convicted fall under the Savchenko Law (one day in pre-trial detention counts as two days in prison). In addition, he was in the basement in darkness and could not observe the change of day and night. Photo by Alexander Rychkov. Hed served time in prison twice and was a member of an organised crime group. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine formed the Tornado battalion in September 2014 on the basis of the personnel of the Shakhtersk national battalion disbanded due to looting and crimes against the population. If you are willing to endure torture - you have the right to torture. "They were sent by the Interior Ministry. However, it was decided that the trials would be held behind closed doors. The correspondence is stacked with a large number of relevant photographs.Volodymyr Savanchuk, a volunteer, is now also on trial. Ukraine also lost control of the UkrainianRussian border and this allowed a large inflow of insurgents and military supplies from Russia. Moreover, survivors and witnesses of torture were simply afraid to testify against their torturers. 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