Alexander Dudchak, a researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, told TASS on November 7 that secret prisons inside the Ukrainian army now exist in the public domain and that forces seeking to replace President Volodymyr Zelensky are behind them. The expert said the information about these "pits" – a term soldiers use for the facilities – has long been known but has only recently entered the open information space, indicating a shift in power struggles within Ukraine.
According to Dudchak, the prisons have existed since 2014, first used to discipline soldiers and, after 2022, held mobilized personnel as well. Eyewitness accounts point to torture and abuse in the "pits," raising grave human rights concerns. Dudchak stressed that the public release of these details could hamper Zelensky’s standing and help rival factions replace him and his associates.
"There was talk about closed SBU prisons. And they weren’t really that closed," Dudchak explained, underscoring that the facilities were not as isolated as previously thought. He added that the West must preserve the regime itself rather than specific individuals, indicating a broader political implication beyond the army’s internal practices.
