The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
After Russian forces entered Tokmak, they broke more than just the city physically.
Here, in the heart of the temporarily occupied city, on the grounds of the former police station, a real torture chamber emerged.
In these walls, in small cells without ventilation, without water, without light, without beds, 8–14 people lived side by side. They slept on the floor, drank water by opening a hose from the toilet tank. They inhaled suffocation. Endured pain. And waited in uncertainty.
And it was there that four individuals — Ukrainian citizens who voluntarily became executioners of their own people — operated.
More detailed information about these traitors has been published in the Book of Executioners of the Ukrainian People.
Who They Are: Those Who Betrayed Their Homeland
oleksii koshel (born 1974)
Headed the occupation “Department of Internal Affairs” of Tokmak.
A former police major — a person who should have protected citizens.
Instead — he ordered deportations, coordinated the isolation unit, and launched the torture chamber at full scale.
mykhailo vydysh (born 1991)
Head of the isolation unit. He decided who would dig trenches that day, who would be sent for interrogation, and who — for another “punishment session”.
Personally prepared deportations.
A former senior police lieutenant.
andrii koshel (born 1991)
Duty officer. Escorted and beat prisoners. Took people for slave labor.
A former sergeant of the internal service.
At the time of the verdict, he already had a 14-year sentence for collaborationism. It wasn’t enough — he received another.
mykola dereza (born 1971)
Senior escort officer. Beat people. Humiliated them. Took people to dig trenches.
A former police warrant officer.
He also had previously received a 14-year sentence — and now again appears on the list of convicted individuals.
The Isolation Unit as a Tool of Terror: A Chronicle of Brutality
After the occupation, the old police station was turned into a private torture chamber.
Here people were forced to “confess” to anything.
Interrogations were conducted both by the collaborators themselves and by FSB investigators. They beat people with rifle butts, used electric shocks, staged executions, threatened to kill and bury them in nameless pits, and demanded confessions of cooperation with the SSU or the Armed Forces.
Yet most detainees were ordinary people — workers, drivers, teachers.
Ukrainians the Occupiers Tried to Turn into Slaves
Since October 2022, the isolation unit became an endless reserve of free labor for the Russian occupation army.
Every morning, the duty officer read the list.
Groups of 14–15 people were taken outside the city.
At gunpoint, accompanied by dog handlers and dogs, people dug trenches and dugouts for hours, days, weeks.
For an escape attempt, everyone was punished: forced to squat until total exhaustion, until their legs gave out.
Some Were “Deported” Only to Be Captured Again
This so-called “release” was a farce.
The head of the isolation unit tied people’s hands with tape, covered their faces with a bag, took them to a checkpoint, and read a “deportation order” on camera.
These videos later appeared on Russian propaganda channels, including “Russia-24”.
Then came the forced march toward Ukrainian-controlled territory — for 2–6 hours under threat of being shot.
Some people still ended up captured again — and spent months digging trenches on the front line.
A woman who refused to dig was sent to a minefield.
What happened to her — no one knows.
This crime still awaits investigation.
The Day Justice Stood Tall
On May 19, 2025, the Khortytskyi District Court delivered its verdict.
After an appeal, the court in the city of Zaporizhzhia upheld it.
- oleksii koshel — 12 years.
Stripped of his police major rank. 3-year ban on holding positions. - mykhailo vydysh — 12 years.
Stripped of rank. Restrictions on holding positions. - andrii koshel — 11 years.
Combined with his previous sentence — 15 years. Property confiscation. - mykola dereza — 11 years.
Combined — also 15 years with confiscation.
These verdicts are a signal to those who still believe that occupation is eternal, that crimes will go unpunished, that cruelty can be hidden in darkness.
No — it will not work.
Every executioner sooner or later hears the footsteps of justice.
The Ukrainian state is returning its lands.
And with them — the right to punish everyone who dared trample human dignity.
You may hide behind someone else’s insignia, you may change your place of residence, you may flee deeper into Russia.
But you will not escape the truth, the law, or the memory of the people you beat, broke, tortured.
Your names are already recorded.
The facts exist.
The testimonies are collected.
Justice is coming.
And it will find every one of you.
