Two new pretrial detention centers in occupied Crimea are part of a system where Ukrainian civilians are held for months without formal charges, access to lawyers, or family contact, according to a new investigation by the Kyiv Independent. Detainees report torture and abuse under the watch of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Former detainees told the Kyiv Independent that their relatives sometimes did not know whether their abducted loved ones were still alive. Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service formally operates one of the new facilities, Pretrial Detention Center No. 2 (SIZO No. 2) in Simferopol, but testimony indicates the FSB has special access to it. The other facility, SIZO No. 8, officially came under FSB control in March 2026, and information about its head was classified. The investigation found that Anton Panin, a former FSB investigator who had worked on a politically motivated case against Crimean Tatar activists, likely remained in charge of SIZO No. 2 despite his official dismissal.
For the investigation, the Kyiv Independent interviewed 13 former detainees of SIZO No. 2, obtained testimony from three other detainees through their lawyers, and spoke to about two dozen relatives. Reporters also analyzed official responses from Russian agencies, leaked data, satellite imagery, and documents from both detention centers. The gathered material shows how Russia turned its system of political persecution in Crimea into a hub for the unlawful detention of Ukrainian civilians, primarily from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, after its full-scale invasion.
Anatolii, whose name has been changed for security reasons, spent three and a half years in Russian torture sites and prisons. He described being beaten, blindfolded, and restrained upon his arrest in 2022. His captors allegedly subjected him to electric shocks, choking, waterboarding, and fingernail removal. He suspects Russian police and FSB officers were among his interrogators. After being forced to sign documents he could not read, he was transferred to SIZO No. 2 in Simferopol.
Mykola Polozov, a Russian lawyer in exile, stated that Russia has used Crimea as a testing ground for repression against civilians since 2014. He cited the case of Crimean Tatar activist Nariman Dzhelyal and brothers Asan and Aziz Akhtemov, who were detained on charges of sabotaging a gas pipeline. Polozov called the case politically motivated and alleged that the Akhtemov brothers were tortured to extract testimony. Asan Akhtemov testified to being tortured and denied access to a lawyer before his interrogation by Anton Panin, an FSB investigator who denied the claims. Dzhelyal recalled that part of a floor in the women's block of SIZO No. 1 was cleared for civilians from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts shortly after the full-scale invasion.
SIZO No. 2 opened in the fall of 2022, relieving the overcrowded SIZO No. 1. Anatolii described SIZO No. 2 as a new four-story building where detainees faced constant surveillance, denial of medical care, and harsh punishments. Former detainees reported being forced into a bent-over position known as the "swallow" with arms twisted behind their backs, and guards allegedly set dogs on prisoners and used stun guns.
