Pakino Penal Colony No. 7

​​Penal Colony No. 7 (PC-7) in the Vladimir Oblast, located in the village of Pakino, is a facility where Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians are held alongside Russian prisoners.

PC-7 operates under a rigid hierarchical system of control and subordination. Staff members are instructed to subject Ukrainians to cruel treatment. Sexual violence is a widespread form of abuse in the colony, ranging from forced nudity to rape with rubber batons. Prisoners were regularly forced to simulate sexual acts with one another while colony staff watched.

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine issued suspicion notices in absentia to the colony’s deputy head for security and operations, Alexei Khavetskyy, and operations officer Grigori Shvetsov. They are suspected of cruel treatment of POWs and other violations of the laws and customs of war.

Cruel treatment of prisoners at Penal Colony No. 7 in the Vladimir Oblast is systemic and sanctioned. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, Ukrainian POWs were coerced into accepting Russian citizenship and giving false testimony about allegedly committing war crimes against civilians.

Prisoners were beaten at least three times a week using batons, belts, and bottles. Virtually any pretext could trigger abuse, including a “poor holiday greeting” or dirt found in a cell. Сaptives were also set upon by service dogs and subjected to electric shocks. In addition, for their own amusement, the colony staff forced the captives to slap each other and act out the mating of a “rooster and a hen.”

Alexei Khavetskyy systematically forced prisoners to undress, touch one another’s genitals, and simulate sexual intercourse. Prisoners were made to act out various scripted scenarios while being instructed what to do. Up to ten people could watch these acts at the same time.

One documented incident describes how, after showering, a prisoner said “thank you” in Ukrainian. In response, Havetskyy and three other colony employees forced the naked POW onto his stomach, beat the soles of his feet with a wooden board, and threatened him with rape.

Adequate medical care was not provided. Captives were asked about their health, but their complaints were met with indifference.

Due to unsanitary conditions, prisoners suffered from scabies (a contagious skin infestation). For a long period, infected prisoners were in the same cells as others. The only “treatment” they received was having all their clothing and bedding taken away. The prisoners were kept naked at all times, including during walks. Only after the disease had advanced significantly were they transferred to separate cells, where they continued to be held completely naked until they recovered.

Food

In Penal Colony No. 7, Ukrainians are held without adequate nutrition, leading to extreme weight loss of dozens of kilograms. Due to chronic malnutrition, one of the prisoners lost weight from 110 to 60 kilograms.

Prisoners were frequently deprived of dinner and bread. However, they were sometimes forced to eat up an entire loaf of bread within 15 minutes. If POWs tried to hide or throw away bread, they were subjected to physical violence. Such rapid consumption led to gastrointestinal distress. Because the overcrowded cells contained only one toilet, defecation and vomiting inevitably took place on the floor.

It is also reported that a colony employee compelled prisoners to touch each other’s genitals and simulate various sexual acts during food distribution.

Sanitary conditions

Former captives reported that they were held in Pakino in inadequate sanitary conditions: the cells were overcrowded, there was no ventilation, and lights remained on throughout the night. It was cold in winter, and prisoners were not provided with warm clothing.

Toilet paper was not provided. Showering was permitted only once a week. Sometimes POWs were forced to strip naked in their cells and run to the shower rooms. While showering, colony staff forced them to press their naked bodies against each other.

Psychological abuse at Penal Colony No. 7 in Pakino is regular and systematic. According to Slidstvo.Info, colony staff entertained themselves by forcing prisoners to dance “Swan Lake,” crawl in circles while imitating seals, entertain guards with conversation late into the night, or even write them a business plan for opening a beer bar. Other guards beat the POWs for engaging in these very conversations, as communicating with guards was prohibited.

Sexual violence is also a core element of psychological torture and the degradation of human dignity at the colony. According to the investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine, staff frequently forced prisoners to simulate sexual intercourse, which the guards called “orgies”.

Dmytro Khyliuk, a released Ukrainian civilian, said that the colony staff hid their faces: “In Pakino, everyone hid completely. They are afraid of retribution. Everyone there uses pseudonyms; we didn’t know their surnames. For example, that old ‘doctor’ who mocked the prisoners and didn’t treat them, what a ba***rd. And the senior operative who called me in for an unrecorded ‘chat’. When he was alone, he spoke normally. But when his colleagues were around, he started swearing and showing off.”

“While you’re showering, a guard can come up to you at any moment and apply a stun gun to your wet body. This happened often; they really enjoyed it,” recalled former prisoner of war Yevhenii Didkivskyy.

“Several times I was in such a state that I realised I would either smash my head in or do something else to simply die. What saved me was that there are people in captivity and you support each other,” he added.