Earlier this week we published a report on routine torture of detainees by Russian forces during the six-month occupation in the Ukrainian city of Izium. But did you know that anti-war Russians also risk horrific abuses by security forces, for instance in Moscow?
On September 25, in a public square in the capital of Russia, Artyom Kamardin participated in a poetry reading to protest Russia’s war in Ukraine. Kamardin, 32, began by saying: “Don’t follow illegal orders [to take part in the invasion] … Freedom for Russia, peace for Ukraine!” He then read his poem, which criticised the war. The police response was swift and brutal. It was also consistent with police abuse against other people protesting the war.
That night, police arrested five people who had allegedly been at the reading. The next day, police raided Kamardin’s home, with a camera crew tagging along. Police beat the three people they found in the apartment, including Kamardin’s girlfriend. They threatened to rape her, superglued stickers to her face, and showed her videos of officers beating Kamardin in the next room.
A video quickly appeared on social media, showing Kamardin – his eyes half closed, showing signs of having been beaten, with fresh cuts on his face, handcuffed, on his knees – apologising for his poetry and promising never to participate in political activities again. During his hearing before a judge on September 28, Kamardin wore clothes stained with blood and had clear injuries on his face. He said police tortured him into a recorded “apology”.
Want to know more? Then read the op-ed that my colleague Aleksandr Lokhmutov just published on openDemocracy.