Truth Hounds: "From Culture to Torture"

On 9 June 2026, Truth Hounds, in partnership with IZOLYATSIA Foundation, presented the research report "From Culture to Torture" — marking the 12th anniversary of the illegal seizure of the Foundation's premises in Donetsk by the Russian Federation and their transformation into an illegal prison and place of torture. The event was held in a hybrid format.

The report examines the establishment and operation of the illegal detention facility known as Izoliatsiia. The violence there formed part of a systematic attack against a civilian population. The report identifies four crimes most strongly supported by evidence — imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, and sexual violence — and demonstrates how these acts were carried out within a structured system of control over more than a decade. The available evidence indicates that these categories of conduct may amount to crimes against humanity. Truth Hounds identified at least 127 individuals who suffered the violence documented in the report.

On 9 June 2014, armed groups of the Russian Federation's occupation administration seized the IZOLYATSIA cultural centre in Donetsk, setting in motion its brutal transformation from a prominent cultural institution into a site of violence and repression.

Speakers
Zera Kozlyieva, Legal Director of Truth Hounds, co-author of the report; Polina Overchenko, Legal Adviser at Truth Hounds, co-author of the report; Oksana Sarzhevska-Kravchenko, Director of IZOLYATSIA Foundation; a survivor of imprisonment at Izoliatsiia; Yurii Rud, Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in Armed Conflict, Office of the Prosecutor General.

Illustrations: Maksym Filipenko. The report was prepared in cooperation with Project Expedite Justice.