Iurii Kaev

A resident of the Kherson region of Ukraine, a Red Cross volunteer. On 5 August 2022, he was detained by unknown persons who took away the expensive medical equipment he was carrying and money collected for humanitarian purposes. Kaev was placed in a pre-trial detention centre. The next day he was taken to Melitopol, put a polythene bag over his head and taken to an administrative building where, according to him, he was beaten. Then he was taken to Kherson, where he was subjected to torture with the use of electric current, wires were attached to his genitals, he was beaten with legs, sticks on his back, hands, feet, doused with water, covered his mouth and face with a towel and poured water, they made a "monkey" - hands were tied, forced to put their arms around their knees, a stick was put through the bends of the legs, and chairs were placed on the edges of this stick, so that it turned out that a person was hanging on this stick, and it was pressing on his muscles and tendons. Later, as he told the court, a staged video of his detention was made, which was later shown on the Rossiya 24 TV channel. In September, he and other detainees were forced to leave fingerprints on weapons and explosives. In October 2022, Kaev was taken to Simferopol, where he was charged with preparation for an act of international terrorism and officially taken into custody. Kaev told the court that he signed the confession without reading it. Here he was also beaten. On 14 October he was sent to Moscow. The lawyer noted that in the case file it is stated that "on 5 August the criminal activity of Kaev was stopped", but it does not say how he ended up in Simferopol. He was also accused of participation in the activities of the terrorist community. At the court hearing on 15 May 2025, where the case was considered on the merits, Kaev was brought with signs of beatings on his face. He said that he lost consciousness and hit his head when he was forced to squat on the stairs in retaliation for an earlier complaint against the convoy. On 30 January 2026, Kaev was sentenced to 14 years in a strict regime colony.