Today in Ukraine: Reports of torture, fresh sanctions, and dozens more dead

A new Amnesty International report on Friday highlighted the "hundreds" of abductions and incidents of torture by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, and also criticized the excessive force used by government forces.

"They beat me with their fists, a chair, anything they could find. They stubbed out cigarettes on my leg and electrocuted me. It went on for so long, I couldn't feel anything anymore. I just passed out," Sasha, a 19-year-old kidnapped in the eastern city of Lugansk, told the rights group in the report.

Sasha had been a member of pro-Kiev "self-defence forces" in the eastern separatist stronghold. He said he was only released after his father paid a $60,000 (45,000-euro) fine, after which he fled to the capital.

Amnesty's report paints a grim portrait of rampant kidnapping, extortion and torture in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian forces seized control of key cities earlier this year and are currently engaged in a desperate battle against government forces.

The rights group said it was impossible to provide reliable statistics amid the chaos, with no attempt by authorities to create a single register of incidents or victims.

But the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission for Ukraine has logged 222 credible cases of abduction, while Ukraine's interior ministry puts the figure at 387 between April and June 7 alone, including 39 journalists.

Amnesty also noted reports of unlawful detention by pro-Kiev forces.

It focused on video footage from May that appeared to show a member of parliament, Oleg Lyashko, and several armed men interrogating two separatist leaders in the back of a car, reportedly in the eastern city of Mariupol.

Both captives were blindfolded and one — a former defence minister of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic — was almost completely naked and bleeding from two cuts, Amnesty said.

The group also raised concerns about excessive force used by pro-Kiev forces as they sought to regain control of the east, including an incident on April 24 when they reportedly shot dead five armed men at a roadblock near Slavyansk, and the reported killing of two civilians when troops fired into a crowd in the town of Krasnoarmeisk on May 11.

"The lawless situation in eastern Ukraine has been facilitated by the erosion of the rule of law over the past six months which has seen repeated amnesties for perpetrators of crimes," said Amnesty, calling for the immediate release of all hostages and investigations into rights abuses on both sides of the conflict.

23 servicemen killed in 24 hours of fighting

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military on Friday reported the death of 23 servicemen in fighting in the separatist east that threatened to shatter slim Western hopes of a truce in the three-month insurgency.

"In the past 24 hours, while performing special assignments in various regions where the active phase of anti-terrorists operation is underway, 23 servicemen from the Ukrainian armed forces and state border service were killed," spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov wrote in a Facebook post, adding that 93 troops had been wounded.

New EU sanctions

The European Union on Friday slapped a travel ban and asset freeze on 11 people allegedly linked to separatist violence in eastern Ukraine.

The decision brings the total number of people on an EU sanctions blacklist to 72, with two firms in Crimea also subject to an asset freeze, an EU statement said.

"In view of the gravity of the situation in eastern Ukraine, the Council has today expanded the list of persons subject to targeted sanctions for actions undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity," it added.

The EU declined to name those concerned, whose identities will be released in the EU Official Journal on Saturday when the sanctions enter into force.

EU diplomats told AFP however that the majority were Ukrainians, with some holding dual Ukraine-Russia nationality, and were relatively "small fry."

There were sharp divisions this week between members of the 28-nation bloc over the list, with some nations — notably Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden — calling for sanctions against higher-level officials.

"Some of us questioned whether this was an adequate response," said a diplomat from one of the five nations, speaking on condition of anonymity.

EU leaders late last month had demanded Russia change tack on Ukraine or face the prospect of tougher sanctions.

The EU has so far balked at outright sanctions on economic sectors despite strong pressure from Washington.