Illustrative photo by TSN: Vovchansk

In the Vovchanska community in the Kharkiv region, during the Russian army's attacks, the occupiers forcibly detained and continue to detain people in the basement. The locals were placed in the basement on 11 May 2024.

According to the prosecutor's office, which has launched an investigation into the detention of civilians in the border community, some of the prisoners managed to escape on 13 May and reached the volunteers. The people are now in safety.

The victims said that while they were in the basement, they heard Russian servicemen talking about the need to shoot civilians. People were also forced to provide medical assistance to the invaders.

These actions of the representatives of the aggressor state are a direct violation of the Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, signed in Geneva on 12 August 1949, to which Ukraine and the Russian Federation are parties, among others.