Russia has stepped up the spread of a new fake story about secret SBU prisons, — CPD

The Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) has observed an intensification of the Russian disinformation campaign regarding the alleged existence of “secret SBU prisons” where civilians are supposedly being tortured.

According to the CCD, Russian state-run propaganda outlets are circulating a series of reports featuring pseudo-testimonies from a “female volunteer from Kramatorsk.” The woman claims that during the ATO, she was allegedly held in an “SBU basement,” where she was tortured, intimidated, and her family was threatened.

“A series of reports featuring the fabricated testimony of a ‘volunteer from Kramatorsk’ has appeared on Russian state-run propaganda outlets. The woman claims that during the ATO, she was allegedly held in an ‘SBU basement,’ where she was tortured, intimidated, and her family was threatened,” the Center’s statement reads.

The Center for Countering Disinformation emphasizes that Russian propaganda has been systematically spreading such emotional stories describing alleged brutal torture since 2014. At the same time, according to the CCD, none of these claims by the Russian side have been confirmed by international human rights organizations or monitoring missions over the years.

The Center believes that Russian propaganda’s regular return to the topic of alleged “secret SBU prisons” is part of the Kremlin’s information campaign.

“The systematic return to fabrications about ‘secret prisons’ is part of the Kremlin’s strategy to provide a propaganda justification for its armed aggression against Ukraine and the occupation of our territories. Through such narratives, Russia is attempting to cultivate a false image of itself as the ‘defender and savior’ of the Donbas population from ‘Ukraine’s crimes,’” the statement reads.

At the same time, the Center highlights numerous documented cases of torture and cruel treatment of the civilian population in the temporarily occupied territories, which directly implicate Russia.

Thus, the Center for Countering Disinformation urges the public to consider the source of such materials and not to accept Russian propaganda narratives without confirmation from independent and international human rights organizations.

This was reported by the Center’s press service. 

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