“This unit is out of control”: Ukrainian officials and State Department-sponsored human rights reports detail Tornado’s unbelievable sadism

Tornado, like the other Dobrobats, recruited a mix of far-right fanatics and hardened criminals. Its ranks included the Belarussian extremist Danil Lyashuk, who went by the call-sign “Mujahed” and has made claims claims about converting to Islam and supporting ISIS. While it is unclear whether Lyashuk actually served in ISIS, he has openly emulated the Islamist militia’s appetite for unhinged sadism. In one 2015 audio recording, Lyashuk proclaimed, “without torture, life isn’t living.” This became his motto.

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A real life horror film unfolds at the Tornado battalion’s trial

Following the arrests, the Ukrainian chief prosecutor found evidence of hideous crimes committed by various members of the Battalion. On the phone of Daniel “Mujahed” Lyshook, the prosecutor found a video (at 2:23) of two other members of the Tornado battalion raping a third man in two separate orifices. Lyshook claimed during his trail that he ordered the horrific rape because he found it amusing.

During the 2016 trials, another kidnapped victim testified that he was chained to a giant yellow ball for weeks (see after the 10 minute mark). The court proceedings also brought forth sickening images from the phones of the Tornado fighters showing disfigured women and rotting corpses littering military bases.

The trial of the Tornado battalion saw testimony by 111 witnesses along with evidence scattered within the areas of Lugansk, at least 80 bodies, attributable to Tornado violence. The judges were overwhelmed with pictures of mutilated genitalia, castrations and other forms of sexual torture.