Searches were conducted on the activists on April 22. According to 'OVD-Info'*, the detained Alexander Zheltukhin was severely beaten by law enforcement officers, demanding he unlock his phone. The man was subjected to electric shocks and suffocated with a bag over his head. After this, he was taken to the CPE department, where he was again beaten on the ribs and with electric shocks. The officers were interested in the Telegram channel 'Free People of Voronezh' — they demanded that nothing more be written in it and that it cease to exist. In the afternoon, Alexander was released as a witness, and at the hospital, the activist was diagnosed with multiple fractures of five ribs and fractures of the spinous processes of five vertebrae, making it difficult for him to speak and move.
According to Fyodor Orlov, detained as part of the same case, he 'fell several times by himself, tied his own eyes, sat in the thorns several times, leaving marks on his body, and while lying down, drew a genital organ on his bald head by himself.' At the same time, the man emphasized that he has no complaints against anyone.
Today it became known about the torture during the search of Voronezh activist Nadezhda Belova. Law enforcement officers burst into her home at six in the morning, knocked her to the floor, and beat her, her husband, and son with electric shocks. During the search, the family had all computer equipment, bank cards, and passports confiscated. The son was threatened with being sent to war. The next day, the owner of the apartment the family was renting demanded they move out.
The case, within which the searches in Voronezh took place, was initiated against activist Grigory Severin under the article of repeated 'discrediting' of the army. The reason for the case was some statement made by Severin while serving a term in a penal colony for 'calls for extremist activity' due to comments on social networks.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.