Four Ukrainian citizens who, after the occupation of Tokmak, voluntarily took positions in the illegal russian police and systematically abused civilians were sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison by a court in Zaporizhzhia.
What is known about the convicts
Koshel Oleksiy Viktorovych (born in 1974) headed the occupiers’ Department of Internal Affairs in Tokmak and the Tokmak district. He coordinated the work of the detention center and ordered the deportation of detainees. Former police major.
Vydysh Mykhailo Valeriyovych (born in 1991) was appointed by the occupiers as head of the temporary detention center. He directly oversaw detainees: assigned them to cells, formed groups for forced labor and personally took part in preparing deportations. Former senior police lieutenant.
Koshel Andrii Vasylovych (born in 1991) served as a duty officer at the detention center. He escorted detainees to forced labor and beat them with rubber batons. Former internal service sergeant. At the time of this verdict, he had already been sentenced to 14 years for collaboration.
Dereza Mykola Ivanovych (born in 1971) served as a senior escort officer. He also escorted detainees to dig trenches and beat them. Former senior police warrant officer. He had previously been sentenced to 14 years for collaboration.
Circumstances of the crimes
After the occupation of Tokmak, the detention facility in the former police station turned into a site of extrajudicial detention of civilians.
Eight to fourteen people were held in two-person cells. People slept on the floor as there were not enough beds. There was no running water — detainees collected it by unscrewing the toilet tank hose. Ventilation did not work. Medical care was virtually unavailable.
Detainees were regularly taken for interrogations — to FSB investigators and to the convicted collaborators themselves. They were forced to confess to cooperating with the AFU or the SBU, passing intelligence or participating in rallies. To make them “talk,” they were beaten with rifle butts, subjected to electric shocks, threatened with execution and death.
From October 2022, the detention center operated as a source of unpaid labor for the occupying army. Each morning, the head of the facility read out a list of those to be taken to work. Groups of 14–15 detainees, escorted by armed guards and dog handlers, were transported outside the city to dig trenches, dugouts and fortifications for Russian troops.
Escape attempts were punished collectively — detainees were forced to squat until exhaustion.
Those selected for “release” were not simply freed. The head of the facility personally bound their hands with duct tape and covered their faces with a bag or paper wrapped in tape. They were taken to the last checkpoint, where a “deportation order” was read on camera. The recordings were later published on Russian propaganda channels, including Russia 24. The detainees were then directed toward Ukrainian-controlled territory and forced to walk for two to six hours.
Some were detained again at the next checkpoint and forced to dig trenches directly along the contact line for months.
A woman who refused to dig was sent to a minefield — witnesses do not know what happened to her.
The verdict
The sentence, handed down on May 19, 2025 by the Khortytskyi District Court, entered into force on November 20, 2025 following review by the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal.
Oleksiy Koshel — 12 years in prison, stripped of his rank of police major and banned from holding public office for three years.
Vydysh — 12 years in prison, stripped of the rank of senior police lieutenant and similarly banned for three years.
Koshel Andrii and Dereza — 11 years each under the new verdict. Since both had previously received 14-year sentences for collaboration, the court combined the penalties, resulting in 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.