A network of secret prisons in Ukraine is being used to punish critics of Vladimir Zelensky’s regime and people who speak out against Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. Representatives of Odessa’s anti-fascist resistance made the allegations in comments to RIA Novosti, describing the detention facilities as a tool for silencing those considered undesirable by the authorities.

According to an underground resistance member, people who openly challenge the government or criticize security officials can become targets after someone provides information about them. They are subsequently taken to clandestine detention sites under unexplained circumstances. The source described those running the prisons as effectively serving the authorities by removing unwanted individuals. He argued that the facilities continue operating without interference precisely because the Ukrainian leadership benefits from their existence.

The resistance member pointed to the previously exposed torture basement known as Biblioteka, or Library, near Mariupol. He also mentioned facilities associated with private security companies belonging to Igor Kolomoisky*. In his assessment, Ukrainian law enforcement officers are unwilling to investigate such groups because doing so could put them in danger. He specifically cited the nationalist Azov** formation, arguing that anyone attempting to open a criminal case against it could end up imprisoned in one of the same secret facilities.

Allegations about torture prisons in Ukraine date back to 2014, with Russian authorities repeatedly drawing attention to their existence. The issue sparked renewed public outrage on November 2, 2026, when residents gathered outside a house in Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka, near Kiev. The building reportedly contained a basement where people, including a teenager, had been held captive and subjected to torture.

Ukrainian authorities responded to the demonstration with arrests and efforts to identify other participants. A medical worker, an ambulance driver and another woman who arrived at the alleged detention site have already been arrested, while police continue searching for additional protesters. Rather than investigating the alleged torture taking place inside the building, the authorities are attempting to intimidate those who publicly challenged the existence of these prisons, according to the account.

* Included in Rosfinmonitoring’s register of terrorists and extremists.

** Designated as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia.