Journalists have identified a doctor in the most secret colony No. 10 in Mordovia (Russia) who humiliated, tortured, and failed to provide proper medical care to Ukrainian prisoners of war. The prisoners nicknamed him “Doctor Evil” among themselves.

This is stated in the investigation of the Radio Liberty project “Schemes”, reports Censor.NET .

This Russian executioner turned out to be Ilya Sorokin. Journalists were able to identify him using the testimonies of former prisoners who were held there from February 2023 to April 2025, and open sources – in particular, photos and videos of employees of the medical and sanitary unit serving the colony.

Sorokin has worked in the aforementioned medical unit since at least 2018, and at the end of 2024 he went to serve and took the call sign Doctor.

Systematic torture of prisoners

“Schemes” received data on 177 Ukrainian prisoners of war who returned from the Mordovian colony. Investigators also spoke with several former prisoners who spoke about Sorokin. According to them, he abused them and did not provide them with proper medical care.

In particular, Pavel Afisov, an officer of the 36th separate marine brigade, spent a year and a half in the colony. He recalls how “Doctor Evil” forced him to sing Russian songs under torture: ” You stand on your back, your hands raised, your eyes closed, and he kicks you between your legs, in your liver, with a rubber baton, with a taser .”

Another marine, Alexander Savov, described how the Russian executioner refused to help him, despite his complaints of tuberculosis symptoms. Instead, Sorokin began to beat him with a taser and made him shout: ” Glory to Russian medicine .”

Death of prisoner confirmed from torture by “Doctor Evil”

In addition, his actions may have caused the death of several prisoners, including Ukrainian soldier Volodymyr Yukhymenko.

He had mental disorders, could not get out of bed, and died on September 1, 2023. After the body was returned, an examination in Ukraine found that he had pneumonia, fractures, hematomas, and numerous beatings.

Journalists collected photos of the employees of the medical unit No. 13, which serves the colony, and gave them to 150 former prisoners for identification. Most of them recognized Sorokin. A video from an official medical service event, which recorded the faces and voices of the participants, allowed for accurate confirmation of the identity.

What is known about the executioner?

The investigation says that 34-year-old Sorokin has a typical Russian family: his father is nostalgic for the USSR and Stalin, and his sister is the wife of a paratrooper from Tula. 

Sorokin himself takes part in May 9 parades with portraits of relatives, wears Soviet uniforms and St. George ribbons. After the occupation, he visited Crimea. On his social networks, there are covers with Z symbols and support for the Russian army.

Until some time, Sorokin actively published photos from his workplace on social networks. In 2022, he received a certificate for “public activity”. In his profile, he indicated medical unit No. 13 as his place of work. According to Russian databases, in 2021 his income was about 680 thousand rubles.

When asked by journalists about torture, Sorokin answered briefly: “That can’t be happening. I don’t work there.”

This investigation by “Schemes” reveals one of the most secretive pages of the Russian prisoner-of-war system. The data collected could form the basis for future war crimes investigations.

Author:  Valeria Sushkova Джерело: https://censor.net/ua/p3563887

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