On March 5, 2026, the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Kherson region served a notice of suspicion on a russian police officer who ran a temporary detention center in Kherson during the city’s occupation in 2022.

What is known about the suspect

Andrey Spivak, a citizen of the russian federation, was born on June 20, 1986, in the village of Novouralsk in Tavriya district of Omsk region.

Prior to being deployed to the occupied territory of Ukraine, he served as deputy company commander of a separate battalion responsible for guarding and escorting suspects and defendants at the Ministry of Internal Affairs department in Omsk. He held the rank of senior police lieutenant.

In the occupied part of the Kherson region, Spivak operated under false identity documents as Smetanin Andrey Serheyevich and used the call sign “Zloy”. He was appointed by the occupying authorities as head of an illegal detention facility set up inside Kherson Temporary Detention Center No. 1 at 3 Teploenergetykiv Street.

Circumstances of the crime

Spivak arrived in Kherson to work in occupation police structures tasked with identifying pro-Ukrainian activists and pressuring residents to cooperate with the occupation authorities.

On September 24, 2022, at approximately 13:00, eight armed russian servicemen detained a civilian resident of Kherson on the summer terrace of a café at the Dniprovskyi market (19 Myru Street).

The man was first taken to a police station. The following day, on September 25 at around 10:00, he was transferred to a cell in the temporary detention center, where he remained for nearly four weeks.

On September 26 at 12:00, Spivak personally came to the cell and took the detainee for interrogation, kicking him several times on the way.

Four other unidentified members of russian armed formations were waiting for the victim in the office. Spivak tied the civilian to a chair using plastic restraints. One of the unidentified occupiers then attached metal clips to the victim’s genitals and ear.

For about 40 minutes, the man was interrogated about participants in the Anti-Terrorist Operation and his contacts with the Armed Forces of Ukraine while being subjected to repeated electric shocks using a prepared device. Between the shocks, Spivak personally struck the victim four times with his fists in the kidney area.

On September 28 at 11:00, the torture was repeated.

According to a forensic medical examination, the victim sustained injuries of moderate severity as a result of the torture, including a closed fracture of the right patella, a meniscus tear and several degenerative changes in the knee joint.

During the entire period of his detention — from September 25 to October 19, 2022 — the victim was held in unsanitary conditions without ventilation, received food no more than once a day and had no access to basic hygiene products.

On October 19 at around 13:00, he was released without any documents explaining the grounds for his detention or imprisonment.

Suspicion and court proceedings

Spivak is suspected under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — cruel treatment of civilians and other violations of the laws and customs of war.

On January 31, 2025, another criminal case against Spivak related to a separate episode of torture was sent to the Kherson City Court.