FSB gains special access to new pre-trial detention centers in occupied Crimea, former detainees describe abuse

Investigators have uncovered that two recently opened pre-trial detention facilities in occupied Crimea—SIZO No. 2 in Simferopol, operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service, and SIZO No. 8, transferred to FSB control in March 2026—are being used to hold Ukrainian civilians from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts without formal charges, lawyer access, or family contact. Former detainees describe relentless monitoring, deprivation of medical treatment, mandatory standing in a bent-over position, and repeated beatings, including electric-shock batons and stun-gun assaults.

Testimony points to former FSB investigator Anton Panin, who was officially dismissed, likely continuing to head SIZO 8. The facilities represent an expansion of a repression network that originated after the 2014 annexation and intensified following the full-scale invasion. Satellite imagery, leaked documents and interviews with relatives corroborate the existence of a secretive “frozen” wing where prisoners are held incommunicado. The investigation highlights the blurred lines between penitentiary administration and security-service control in the occupied peninsula.