The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case over the torture of activists in Voronezh, a city in southwestern Russia.

The First Department of the Russian Investigative Committee for the Voronezh region has opened a criminal case following a complaint by one of the victims of the April raids on Voronezh activists, during which security officers tortured activists while carrying out investigative actions. This was reported by the “Word to the Defence” project.

The project does not specify under which article the case was opened. However, it notes that the case targets “unnamed officers of the Centre ‘E’ and the FSB.” The project also did not specify who exactly made the complaint. The victims have been summoned for questioning by the Investigative Committee.

On 22 April, security forces came to eight activists in Voronezh, a city in southwestern Russia. Investigative actions at the homes of seven of them were connected to a criminal case against Grigory Severin under the article on repeated ‘discrediting’ of the military (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). The police were particularly interested in the “Free People of Voronezh” channel, which published posts criticising the Russian authorities. After this, Severin was placed in pretrial detention.

A criminal case for public incitement to extremist activity (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code) was opened against the eighth activist, Yuri Avsenyev, because of a comment on VKontakte. It is unknown whether his case is related to the Severin case.

• Some of the activists—Alexander Zheltukhin, Fyodor Orlov, and Nadezhda Belova—reported being tortured during the searches. For example, officers threatened Zheltukhin with “serious consequences.” He was beaten while handcuffed as they demanded the PIN code for his phone. Police then used a stun gun on him and suffocated him by putting a bag over his head.
• During a search in another of Zheltukhin’s flats, he was beaten on the ribs and with a stun gun. Medical staff documented fractures of eight ribs and five vertebrae. Officers tried to cut off Fyodor Orlov’s finger with scissors. Nadezhda Belova, her husband and son were beaten with a stun gun during their search.
• On 20 June, police searched another activist, Anzhela Gushchina. According to the author of the Voronezh-based channel “Dissident,” this search may also have been connected to the criminal case against Grigory Severin.