Russia's troops abduct secretary of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson; subject him to torture

Ukraine on Sunday claimed that the Russian forces kidnapped the Secretary of the Nova Kakhovka city Dmytro Vasiliev from the Kherson Oblast and have been subjecting him to torture. In a Facebook post, the Kakhovka city territorial community and the wife of the Ukrainian official Lyudmila Vasilieva stated that Russian troops have been coercing Vasiliev to make him publicly declare that the Kremlin has officially occupied the city. The Secretary of the Nova Kakhovka city is reportedly being held at a detention facility in an unknown location. 

Vasiliev being subjected to 'physical and moral pressure'

"Secretary of the Council of the Novokakhovka United Territorial Community Vasilyev Dmitry Vyacheslavovich has been captured and held captive by the Russian occupiers for more than two days in the basement, a temporary detention centre in the police station in Nova Kakhovka,” said Lyudmila Vasilieva on Facebook. The station is being used by the occupiers [Russian forces] as an office  the so-called "commandant's office,” she added further. Vasilieva noted that Russia's troops have been pressuring the Ukrainian leader “to change his attitude to the Russian occupation.”

According to theVasiliev’s wife, he is being subjected to physical and moral pressure including elements of torture to accept the Russian occupation. 

Some of the prominent officials—head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Gennady Laguta, and the mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Volodymyr Kovalenko— have been updated about Vasiliev's captivity, informed his wife. "We were constantly in touch,” she said, referring to the day earlier when her husband was responding to her phone messages. Later, she said “he was not here. Then I got a call and was told that he had been abducted. It happened on March 16 at 3 o'clock. I started looking for him.” Lyudmila Vasilieva said that she had also written a statement to the prosecutor's office about his disappearance and has appealed for an urgent investigation into it.

According to Pravda, Russian troops in the heavily shelled Kherson region are “trying to persuade” residents to join the so-called "local police“ and accept the Russian occupation. On March 16, they also abducted the mayor of Skadovsk, Kherson region. Russia has recently announced that it is switching the payment system to the Ruble in Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region. In defiance to the Russian occupation, a pro-Ukraine rally marched in the streets, and videos surfaced depicting Russian forces using tear gas and stun grenades on the civilians. Russians are also planning a false and fake referendum to create a proxy 'Kherson republic' Ukraine's Prosecutor General warned.