On June 24, 2026, the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Donetsk region notified one of the prison guards who worked in the so-called “Ministry of State Security of the DPR” in the occupied part of the Donetsk region and tortured civilians in the “Izolyatsia” prison of suspicion under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Who is the suspect

Kulinich Mykhailo Volodymyrovych (born August 25, 1987) is a native of Donetsk.

He served as a guard at the so-called “mdb dnr” base, which was illegally established by the occupation authorities on the premises of the former insulation materials factory (PrJSC “Izolyatsia”) in the Budyonnivskyi district of Donetsk, at 3 Svitloho Shliakhu Street.

Another indictment against him is already being considered by the Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv under a number of serious articles of the Criminal Code, including: creation of a terrorist group or organization (Part 1 of Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code), creation of armed formations not provided for by law (Part 1 of Article 260 of the Criminal Code), human trafficking (Part 1 of Article 149 of the Criminal Code), and creation of a criminal organization (Part 1 of Article 255 of the Criminal Code).

Crime circumstances

In early October 2017, a local resident was detained in Donetsk on suspicion of cooperating with Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.

The man was taken to one of the rooms of the “Izolyatsia” prison, where Kulinich took a direct part in brutally torturing the victim.

To force him to cooperate and obtain a confession, Kulinich first beat the detainee, whose hands were handcuffed behind his back.

After that, the man was laid on a metal table, taped to it, electric wires were attached to his toes, and an electric current was passed through his body for several hours while water was repeatedly poured over him.

After this interrogation, the victim was held at “Izolyatsia” until August 2018 and was systematically subjected to physical and psychological abuse.

In addition, under the threat of being transferred to a cell without basic sanitary conditions or being deprived of food, the victim was forced to perform various tasks at the “Izolyatsia” facility, including cleaning the premises and collecting scrap metal.

Suspicion

The investigation qualified Kulinich’s actions as cruel treatment in the form of torture, which constitutes a violation of a number of provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949, and the Additional Protocol thereto.

He was notified of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — violation of the laws and customs of war.

The criminal proceedings were entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations under No. 12014100080007021 on August 13, 2014.