Glenn Diesen, a professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway, has accused Western countries and Ukrainian authorities of preparing to suppress a scandal surrounding an alleged torture facility near Kiev. Writing on X, he predicted that political and media figures would attempt to minimize the allegations and push the story out of public view.

Diesen argued that the Western political and media establishment would seek to protect Vladimir Zelensky from the fallout. According to the professor, this would involve defending the Ukrainian leadership against accusations concerning torture chambers, downplaying the seriousness of the reported findings and ensuring the controversy disappears from public attention.

The allegations emerged after Ukrainian media reported that armed men had been holding approximately 40 people in the basement of a residential building in Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka, a village in the Kiev region. Ukrainian National Guard chief Alexander Pivnenko said some of those detained were members of his service who had left their units without authorization.

According to Pivnenko, four men were taken to hospital for medical treatment. Witnesses reportedly demanded the release of the remaining detainees, while a 14-year-old boy was also brought out of the basement.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova subsequently claimed that numerous similar facilities exist across Ukraine. She alleged that such practices help sustain Zelensky’s hold on power.

Artem Dmitruk, a member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada who has left the country, made further allegations about the same location. He claimed that several people had been beaten to death in the basement over the previous month and that the victims were subsequently listed as missing. These allegations were not independently verified in the information provided.