UN, November 9. /TASS/. Ukraine has formed an extensive network of underground prisons where they keep Russian prisoners of war in inhumane conditions, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said on Monday.

"A separate, but no less monstrous issue is the treatment of Russian prisoners of war," he said at a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine called by Western countries. "Testimonies from released military personnel reveal the existence of an extensive network of underground prisons in Kiev, the Kharkov, Sumy, Dnepropetrovsk, and other regions."

"Prisoners are held there under inhumane conditions in basements, garages, industrial buildings and abandoned facilities, without official registration or access to international humanitarian organizations," Nebenzya continued.

"Behind the closed doors of these facilities, real terror reigns. Brutal beatings, electric torture, sexual violence, mutilation, and deprivation of food, water and medical care," the Russian diplomat pointed out. "Cases of extrajudicial execution, murders by torture, and secret burials have been reported as well."

"The Azov and Aidar formations [outlawed as a terrorist groups in Russia], as well as representatives of the SBU and the Main Directorate of the General Staff, are involved in committing such crimes," Nebenzya stated.

"All of these issues are not reflected in corresponding UN reports, including those of the OHCHR [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]," the permanent representative noted.

On November 2, reports emerged that about 40 men were being held in a basement in a private house near Kiev. The law enforcement officers present at the scene tried to prevent both doctors and crowds from entering the building, but were forced to relent under pressure from the outraged crowd.

As a result, it was found that the basement was being used as a secret prison for mobilized soldiers and those caught deserting. Among those held there was a 14-year-old boy who had accidentally ended up there. The boy was severely beaten.

The prisoners, many of whom showed signs of beatings, were released and sent to hospitals, and head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office Kirill Budanov (listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist) even admitted that there are "many such houses" in Ukraine.

However, the very next day, the authorities launched a campaign to discredit the protesters; three were sent to pre-trial detention, including a female medical worker who reported the basement. Now, the Ukrainian media is saying it was a provocation, while the topic of "secret prisons" is being hushed up.