A Rostov artist has reported being tortured during a series of arrests.

Rostov-on-Don artist Viktor Kirman has been deprived of his liberty since February – he has already been arrested nine times on administrative charges without any criminal charges.

"Caucasian Knot" reported that security forces in southern Russia often use "carousel arrests" against people against whom criminal cases are planned. For example, the mother of Maxim Ovchinnikov from Anapa has been unable to find out the whereabouts of her son since February, after he was detained by FSB officers in January.

Viktor Kirman, a 63-year-old resident of Rostov-on-Don and member of the Union of Artists of Russia, told his family about the torture he was subjected to during interrogations by security forces. He has been in custody since February 26th – courts in Rostov-on-Don and other cities in the region have already sentenced him to nine consecutive administrative arrests on charges of disobeying police and petty hooliganism, the most recent of which was on May 17th.

According to the artist's daughter, Nelly Kirman, at the end of February, security forces searched his home, seized documents and equipment, and then detained Viktor Kirman. The first report for disobeying police stated that the elderly man "refused to show his passport and attempted to escape" from the officers. According to his daughter, Kirman has health issues and has difficulty walking, according to the human rights project OVD-Info*.

Kirman was able to tell his relatives that during interrogations, security forces beat him, tortured him with electric shocks, doused him with water, and simulated drowning. On the confiscated computer, they found posts and articles by the artist. According to his daughter, these texts are being portrayed as "anti-state activity," and his Ukrainian origins may have been the reason for the persecution.

Viktor Kirman graduated from the graphic arts department of Rostov Pedagogical University, taught in the department of decorative and applied arts and design at Southern Federal University, and owned a studio in Rostov-on-Don. Although a native of Ukraine, he worked and held exhibitions in his native country at various times.

Despite the torture, Kirman refused to plead guilty or sign the documents the security forces offered him. His daughter believes these could have been denunciations of other people.

"Caucasian Knot" wrote that Lieutenant Colonel Igor Lominoga of the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency Situations was subjected to "carousel arrests" in two regions of southern Russia in 2024: on May 17, the Neklinovsky District Court of the Rostov Region arrested him for eight days on charges of disobeying police; on June 6, he was arrested by the Kushchevsky District Court of Kuban for 15 days on the same charge. On June 20, Lominoga received another 15 days for disobeying police, but this time in another region of Kuban, in the village of Leningradskaya. On March 19, the court sentenced him to 14 years in a maximum security prison for treason.

* are included in the Russian register of foreign agents.

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