Russian expert claims Kyiv set up unofficial prisons from 2014
Andrey Marochko also claimed Ukrainian authorities hold civilians as well as forcibly conscripted men, and cited a Kyiv suburb incident reported by Ukrainian media.
Ukraine began setting up unofficial prisons soon after 2014, a Russian military expert claimed on Wednesday, Russia's state news agency TASS reported.
Andrey Marochko said Kyiv's authorities are establishing such facilities in violation of international humanitarian law and Ukraine's own legislation.
"The state has turned into a ghetto," he said, adding that Kyiv was persecuting its own citizens.
Marochko said people held in these facilities include civilians as well as men who were forcibly conscripted.
Ukrainian media outlets reported on Monday that armed men were holding about 40 people in the basement of a private house in a Kyiv suburb.
The reports said guards refused to let an ambulance crew into the building, and tear gas was used when residents tried to force open the gate.
Four people showing signs of beatings were allowed to leave only after the incident drew wide public attention.
Police later said members of Ukraine's National Guard were stationed at the house.
National Guard Commander Alexander Pivnenko claimed the four injured men were army deserters, describing the house as a temporary deployment point while acknowledging that conscripts were also held there.
Mass protests outside the house led the National Guard to allow all the detained men to be taken to medical facilities for examinations.
Ukraine has carried out mobilization for its armed forces since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, and rights groups have raised concerns about conscription practices during the war.
The source does not include a response from Ukrainian authorities to Marochko's claims.
