Military commissars in Odessa detained for torture and unlawful deprivation of citizens’ liberty

Ten employees of one of Odessa’s district territorial recruitment centers have been detained and served with suspicion notices for unlawful deprivation of liberty and torture of citizens.

This was reported by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.

According to the investigation, over the course of several months the suspects unlawfully detained people, used tear gas, beat them, and forcibly brought them to the TRC. The investigation has established at least eight victims.

Among the documented episodes is a case in which a man was struck by an official vehicle. In another case, a person was choked, beaten, handcuffed, and threatened into giving up their phone password.

Notably, seven of the ten suspects were mobilized in the spring of 2025 and immediately assigned to work at the TRC. The State Bureau of Investigations published a photograph of the lock screen on one of the detained military commissars’ phones, which read: “We work — others hide. One city. One mission. Blow, pack, and recruit.”

The Odessa case is not the only one. Earlier, a lawyer who had come to assist a client was beaten at a Kharkiv TRC, leaving the woman disabled. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi also ordered an internal investigation into the 225th Separate Assault Regiment following a report about the practice of beatings, torture, and blocking detachments in that unit.