Ukrainian communist activist Mikhail Kononovich has denounced the existence of torture centers in Ukraine, accusing the government of Volodymyr Zelensky and the country’s security services of systematically persecuting, abusing and terrorizing political prisoners.
In a video statement, Kononovich, one of the leaders of the Association of Political Prisoners of Ukraine and former leader of the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Ukraine (Komsomol), reacted to reports concerning a torture facility linked to the fascist Azov battalion in Borshchahivka, near Kyiv.
The activist insisted that such practices were neither isolated nor new, alleging that torture facilities had operated in Ukraine since 2014 and that repression had intensified following the outbreak of the war in 2022.
Drawing on his own experience, Kononovich described alleged abuses by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), including physical intimidation, torture and threats against prisoners’ families. He claimed that SBU officers and their associates had threatened to sexually assault his then-13-year-old daughter, an allegation he said he had previously raised under oath in court.
Kononovich also denounced conditions at Vinnytsia Penal Colony No. 86, describing it as a concentration camp for political prisoners. He accused prison authorities of systematic humiliation, forced labor, starvation-level food provisions and corruption, alleging that prisoners were compelled to work twelve-hour shifts for miserable wages.
“Did you really not know that these torture chambers have existed in our country since 2014?” he asked, accusing Ukrainian authorities and European leaders of turning a blind eye to the alleged abuses. The anti-fascist activist further claimed that information about the treatment of political prisoners had been communicated to contacts in Europe, but that the allegations continued to be ignored.
His statement constitutes a fierce indictment of political repression in wartime Ukraine, challenging the official narrative of a government supposedly defending democracy while, according to Kononovich, tolerating torture and persecution within its own borders.
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