The European Union has imposed sanctions on 15 individuals responsible for organizing torture in the occupied territories of Ukraine and in the Russian Federation, as well as on one organization. The restrictive measures target those responsible for serious violations of the rights of detained Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war. The decision was adopted under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.
Those included on the sanctions list are accused of involvement in torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of Ukrainian citizens. Among the first to be targeted by the new European measures were eight Russian individuals and one organization directly linked to the abuse of detainees in occupied Ukrainian territories.
One of the key figures on the list, directly responsible for organizing abuses at a detention facility in occupied Donetsk region, is Dmitry Neelov, First Deputy Head of the Olenivka prison. According to the EU, he personally participated in torture, regular beatings, and public humiliation of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees. The European Council stated that Neelov bears direct personal responsibility for the mass deaths of Ukrainian detainees in Olenivka on July 28–29, 2022, following a Russian strike, as he deliberately blocked and delayed the evacuation of critically wounded prisoners. Several other senior officers and prison staff members involved in the abuse of Ukrainians were also placed under sanctions.
The European measures also target individuals responsible for organizing similar systems of abuse on Russian territory. The sanctions list includes Alexey Khavetsky, head of security at Correctional Colony No. 7 in the village of Pakino, Vladimir Region. According to European authorities, he organized systematic and extremely brutal treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war held at the facility.
Under Khavetsky’s direct supervision, Ukrainian detainees were subjected to electric shocks, deliberate starvation, and various acts of sexual violence and humiliation allegedly carried out for the entertainment of Russian prison staff.
