On 6 March, huge anti-war demonstrations across Russia saw more than 5,000 protesters arrested. 29 were taken to Moscow's Brateyevo Police Station for questioning. There, an unnamed police officer wearing black subjected at least 11 young women to verbal and physical abuse, often amounting to torture. This included suffocation.
Two of the detainees recorded their ordeals and on release leaked the audio to the press. Despite international outrage and multiple calls for an investigation by a Russian politician, the authorities did not open a criminal case.
In place of one, the victims set out to find the ‘man in black’ themselves. Using a leaked database from a Russian food delivery company called Yandex, archived social media accounts, and old dating profiles, BBC Eye’s new documentary ‘Finding My Torturer’ tells the story of how these young women came together to expose the identity of their torturer and his commanding officer.
In place of one, the victims set out to find the ‘man in black’ themselves. Using a leaked database from a Russian food delivery company called Yandex, archived social media accounts, and old dating profiles, BBC Eye’s new documentary ‘Finding My Torturer’ tells the story of how these young women came together to expose the identity of their torturer and his commanding officer.