A former law enforcement officer from occupied Gornostaivka was convicted of torturing a married couple
The Novovorontsov District Court of Kherson Oblast handed down a verdict in absentia against former Ukrainian law enforcement officer Volodymyr Plyukhin, who, following the occupation of the region, headed the “criminal investigation department” of the occupying police in Hornostaivka. He was convicted of torture and cruel treatment of the civilian population.
According to the case file, on June 2, 2023, the defendant, along with Russian military personnel, broke into the home of a local couple. The husband was beaten near the house, after which both were forcibly taken to the seized police station. During hours-long interrogations, the detainees were threatened with violence and murder, and after their release, Plyukhin intimidated the victims, warning them of reprisals if they reported the incident to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
For committing a war crime, the court sentenced Plyukhin to 10 years in prison. Through partial consolidation with a previous sentence for collaboration (12 years’ imprisonment in 2023), the final sentence amounted to 13 years’ imprisonment. The term of imprisonment will be counted from the moment of his actual arrest.
