MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. Pits, dungeons and unofficial prisons are commonplace in Ukraine, and the authorities in Kiev are well aware of their existence, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told TASS.

On Monday, Ukrainian media outlets reported that armed men were detaining about 40 people in the basement of a private house in a Kiev suburb.

TASS has summarized the key details available so far.

Situation in Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka

- Ukrainian media outlets reported on Monday that armed men were holding about 40 people captive in the basement of a private house in a Kiev suburb.

- An ambulance crew arrived at the scene amid growing concerns over the condition of those being held inside.

- A female medical worker said she had received a video showing that some of the people trapped in the basement were in critical condition, with many bearing injuries consistent with torture and severe physical abuse.

- Armed men guarding the building refused to allow medical workers inside.

- Clashes broke out outside the building as desperate and outraged local residents tried to force open its gate. Tear gas was used against the crowd.

- It was only after reports from the ambulance crew attracted widespread public attention that four people were finally allowed to leave the house.

- Police later said that members of Ukraine’s National Guard were stationed at the building.

- National Guard Commander Alexander Pivnenko claimed that the four injured men were army deserters.

- He described the house as a temporary deployment site while acknowledging that conscripts were also being held there.

- Mass protests erupted outside the building, as local residents demanded that the men be released. Following the public outcry, the National Guard agreed to allow all those detained to be taken to medical facilities for examinations.

- Men bearing visible signs of beatings were reportedly being secretly removed from the basement one by one through a back exit, a member of the local pro-Russian underground movement told TASS.

- The actual number of injured victims is estimated at about 45.

- According to the underground resistance member, "this is not the only place of torture."

- The female medical worker who first raised the alarm about conscripts and army deserters being held in the basement and insisted that they be taken to hospital was later detained by police, Ukrainian lawmaker Igor Mosiychuk (designated as a terrorist and extremist in Russia) wrote on Telegram.

- Meanwhile, Ukrainian media reports have questioned the woman's employment at the medical facility she claimed to represent.

- Some media outlets reported that journalists had been instructed to launch a campaign to discredit her.

Kiev authorities' awareness

- There are numerous facilities in Ukraine similar to the house in Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka outside Kiev, where National Guard members were detaining conscripts and army deserters, said Head of Vladimir Zelensky’s Office Kirill Budanov (designated as a terrorist and extremist in Russia).

- Underground detention pits and unofficial prisons are widespread in Ukraine, and the Kiev leadership is fully aware of their existence, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said.

- Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies have established clandestine prisons like the one discovered in a private house outside Kiev to preserve the Zelensky regime’s grip on power through intimidation and torture, Russia senator Igor Kastyukevich of the Kherson Region told TASS.

- There are far more such places in the country "than one can imagine," he added.

Guarding unofficial prisons

- The Ukrainian authorities station army units to guard unofficial prisons located near the frontline, while neither prisoners’ families nor members of the public are granted access to the facilities, Miroshnik told TASS.

Forced conscripts in Ukraine

- Ukraine’s mobilization campaign has assumed appalling proportions, as anyone risks being snatched in the middle of the street and taken to an unknown location, Ukrainian lawmaker Alexey Goncharenko (designated as a terrorist and extremist in Russia) said.

- Up to 70% of Ukrainian troops are forcibly conscripted and subjected to beatings and torture, Miroshnik stressed in a conversation with TASS.

Lack of reaction from international organizations

- International human rights organizations have long been "feeding" on information supplied by the Kiev authorities, Miroshnik told TASS.

- According to him, for years, international human rights organizations "have been turning a blind eye to an entire system of forcible conscription, torture and abuse in the armed forces."

- Miroshnik noted that international organizations active in Ukraine "have for several years been praising the Kiev regime while overlooking the situation facing forcibly conscripted troops and the existence of unofficial prisons established by the Ukrainian authorities."