INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It looked like a torture chamber
suspicion of involvement in an anti-Kremlin paramilitary group fighting alongside the Ukrainian army
He is now sharing his story for the first time.For safety reasons, his surname and some details about his story have been withheld.For
years, Denis had been a part of the fan culture surrounding his hometown Moscow's FC Spartak football team
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, he said the fan community split in two, with those who supported the invasion on one side and
those who opposed it on the other
examination swiftly turned into an interrogation
on the Russian-Georgian border.Yelena Afonina / TASSThe experience recounted by Denis reflects a wider trend in which the FSB targets people
believed to be involved with the volunteer paramilitary groups fighting for Ukraine, which have launched several cross-border incursions
told The Moscow Times.In late March, the FSB said it had arrested seven people in Moscow
slapping his face and spitting at him
He threw his phone against the floor in frustration, breaking the device
It means that you have already crossed the Georgian border
filled with a heavy stench
It looked like a torture chamber
They forced me to sit on a chair, put a plastic bag on my head again and started beating me
My hands were cuffed to the chair behind my back
They greased both of my hands with something and started electrocuting me
accused Denis of being a Nazi
endure the torture and humiliation, he kicked the chair over while still cuffed to it, and started rolling on the floor and moaning
no legal complaints against the police and had voluntarily agreed not to cross the border
conduct for swearing at the border crossing and sentenced him to 15 days of arrest.During the last hour of his sentence, Denis was visited
Then two individuals wearing face masks came in
The first one started asking me about football fans, about Ukraine, all of these questions again
friends had gone to fight for Ukraine and pressed to explain why he broke his phone
must have thought they would get dirt on me like this
Denis said he decided he could no longer live in fear
Within a month, he had left Russia
He asked that the details of his departure not be published due to safety reasons.According to human rights activist Smirnov, despite
in the Crocus City Hall massacre appeared in court with clear signs of abuse after unverified footage appeared to show them being tortured
result, the gruesome interrogation practices, including torture, once reserved for terrorism suspects have increasingly been directed at
