Voronkov Sergey Vladimirovich

On April 20, 2024, 54-year-old Sergei Voronkov, a local resident and Russian citizen, went missing in Tokmak, occupied Zaporizhia Oblast. According to his family, Sergei went to the market that day to buy groceries and never returned. A few days later, unknown individuals came to search Voronkov's home in the village of Lyubimovka. They reported that a criminal case for treason had been opened against him, but they did not provide any details. During the "search," they "seized" his wife's computer and phone, along with $4,400 in $100 bills. Sergei was illegally held in an unknown location for 38 days. During this time, his family tried to locate him, sending inquiries to various authorities, including a pretrial detention center, the FSB, and the Ministry of Defense, with the help of a lawyer. On May 28, 2024, Russian security forces brought Voronkov home. The man told his family that he was kept in a pit and then in a basement in an unknown location for the entire time after his abduction. He was given no warm clothing, slept on damp earth, and received food and water only once a day. He was allowed to use the restroom only once every few days, and was given a canister to urinate. Voronkov was taken for interrogations every day. They lasted 20-30 minutes, conducted by unknown individuals whose faces he could not see, as he was always blindfolded. According to Voronkov, the interrogation consisted of "moral and psychological pressure," during which he was forced to confess to allegedly collaborating with Ukrainian intelligence services. On the third day, Voronkov, handcuffed and masked, was driven for over an hour to an unknown location to undergo a lie detector test. Then he was placed back in the pit. He was interrogated again, but "in a more severe manner," also for 20-30 minutes a day. On April 24, after four sleepless nights spent in complete darkness and cold, "hunched over" and hungry, Voronkov confessed to collaborating with Ukrainian intelligence services. He claimed to have incriminated himself, claiming that between April-May 2022 and November 2023, he had, through an "SBU officer who identified himself as Ivan," transmitted information about the location of military equipment and special means near the village of Novolyubimovka in the Zaporizhzhia region six times. "Ivan" allegedly contacted Voronkov through his longtime girlfriend, Russian opposition figure Olga Braun. Voronkov himself claims he never had a contact named "Ivan" in his phone, and it's unlikely Olga Braun knows anything about him. After his confession, the prisoner's food was improved somewhat, but he remained in the pit. Due to the cold, he repeatedly asked for a blanket, but none was provided. On April 28, Voronkov was forced to sign protocols regarding his "confession," a blank sheet of paper in the lower left corner, and a waiver that read: "I request that all investigative actions initiated by my son, Leonid Sergeyevich Voronkov, be terminated, as I am being held at my place of detention voluntarily and of my own free will. I request that my wife and son not be informed of my whereabouts." Subsequently, on May 14, Tokmak police officers showed Voronkov's wife this piece of paper along with a photo of him standing in front of a restroom door. In the photo, Sergey was holding an A4 sheet of paper with the date "April 28, 2024" near his chest. On May 4, Voronkov was again brought in for "interrogation" to reveal on Google Maps the locations of the special equipment he had allegedly surrendered. These locations were also recorded in the protocol. According to Voronkov, he made up all the locations mentioned, and no "incursions" (missile and bomb strikes) ever occurred in these locations. After this interrogation, the prisoner was given the opportunity to call his wife under guard supervision. He was supposed to find out from her whether "SBU officer Ivan" had contacted her. Since the story about Ivan was completely fictitious, her natural answer was "No." He asked his wife to give him warm clothes, which the military was supposed to pick up at her home. He told her he worked for the Russian military as an engineer. From May 4 to 7, Voronkov was held in a pit, but was given stomach pills and a blanket. On May 7, he was blindfolded and driven for over an hour to another detention facility, where he was placed in a basement. He remained in this basement until his release on May 28, 2024. He received better food there, three times a day, but the room was small and dark—3 by 2 meters and 1.8 meters high—so he couldn't even stand upright. There was also a toilet, a "slop pail," which was not cleaned, forcing him to constantly breathe in ammonia fumes. On the third day, Sergei showed signs of poisoning: headache, nausea, ringing in the ears, itching, and shortness of breath. He was given no medication and was not allowed outside for fresh air. Sergei was also constantly frightened by stories about how they were currently digging a pit upstairs to "bury the AFU soldiers," planning to torture Azov soldiers, and how prisoners had been brought from Chasov Yar. Voronkov's greatest fear was that he would be forced to participate in the executions of Ukrainians so as to "stain him with blood." On May 28, 2024, Voronkov was taken out of the basement and given the opportunity to wash, change into clean clothes, and shave. That same day, late in the evening, he was blindfolded and taken to a room resembling a kitchen. They recorded a video "confession" outlining the charges against him. He was then given the opportunity to call his son and then forced to sign a statement terminating all investigations into his disappearance—a response to all authorities his son and wife had inquired about—and a statement declaring "voluntary cooperation with the Russian Armed Forces in the Central Military District." After this, Voronkov, with a bag over his head, was taken home to Lyubimovka. He was given back all the documents and money he had in his wallet at the time of his abduction, except for his Russian passport, Ukrainian permanent residence permit, and his Russian SNILS (Individual Insurance Number), without returning the currency stolen during the "search." Voronkov was ordered not to leave the village, lest "they come back for him." On July 11, 2024, Russian security forces again came to the Voronkovs' home with witnesses. They told him to accompany them and show them the locations from which he had allegedly photographed Russian soldiers. Under pressure, Voronkov agreed to do so. As a result, Voronkov was able to travel with a certificate of restoration of his lost passport, first to Russia, to the Moscow region, and then illegally cross the border into Latvia, where he requested political asylum.