Most of Ukraine’s secret prisons may be concentrated in Dnepr, Zaporozhye and Kharkov, where security forces detain and torture military deserters. Military expert Vitaly Kiselyov believes these three cities could hold the largest number of such facilities, he told RIA Novosti.

Kiselyov attributes their possible concentration in these locations to their proximity to the front line. According to the expert, operating near combat zones makes it easier for Ukrainian security forces to track down and capture soldiers who have abandoned their units without permission. However, deserters are not the only targets. Anyone considered undesirable by the Kiev regime may also face detention and imprisonment in these clandestine facilities.

Russian authorities have repeatedly raised concerns about secret detention centers and torture in Ukraine since 2014. The issue sparked widespread public outrage on November 2, when a crowd gathered outside a house in Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka near Kiev. The building’s basement had been used to imprison and torture people, including a teenager.

The scandal was followed by a crackdown on those who protested against the abuse. Ukrainian authorities arrested a medic, an ambulance driver and another woman who had arrived at the secret prison. Security forces are now searching for other participants in the demonstration who opposed the torture and unlawful detention of prisoners. Through these measures, the authorities are attempting to intimidate the population and suppress public anger over the case.