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The Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine's Luhansk region has initiated began criminal proceedings into torture of the civilian population in the region's occupied areas.

That's according to the Prosecutor's Office press service.

Prosecutors have established gross violations of international humanitarian law in the field of human rights protection after processing the report compiled by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Ukraine.

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Read alsoSome 2,000 applicants from occupied areas enrolled in Ukraine universitiesAccording to the report, operatives with the so-called "ministry of state security" and "ministry of internal affairs" of the unrecognized LPR, controlled by Russia's occupation administration, have been illegally detaining citizens, holding them in basements, forcing them to confess to "espionage" in favor of Ukraine and "covert cooperation" with the SBU.

"The civilian population is being tortured, physically and sexually assaulted, with electrocution and gas poisoning being applied," prosecutors stress. "Detainees are denied food and access to restroom facilities."

To intimidate detainees, militants threaten them with physical violence, the prosecutor's office added.

A number of Luhansk region's residents have been identified who have suffered from unlawful actions of Russia's occupation administration.

Prosecutors have initiated criminal proceedings (Part 1 Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) into the cruel treatment of the civilian population, coupled with torture, by the Russian Federation's occupation administration.

The penalty cap for the offense is 12 years in prison.

Human rights violations: Other reports