“One said to another: ‘Ring it!’, an electric current coursed through my body, I screamed”. Anarchist Rouslan Sidiki, detained for sabotage near Ryazan, recounts torture

The Dyagilevo military airfield in Ryazan was attacked by drones on July 20, 2023. At the time, it was reported that an explosion left a crater, but no aircraft were damaged. A few months later in the Ryazan region, 19 wagons of a freight train derailed after an explosion on the railway. According to investigators, both acts of sabotage were carried out by anarchist Rouslan Sidiki. Security forces reported his arrest on December 1.

Sidiki, 36, holds dual Russian and Italian citizenship. He spent his childhood in Europe with his mother and stepfather before moving to Ryazan, where he has worked as an electrician since the 2010s. In summers, Sidiki often quit his job to travel by bicycle and hitchhike—he was known as a “survivalist.” Acquaintances describe Sidiki both as a Chernobyl “stalker” and as a “great smart anarchist” from the “New Way” rural commune in the Leningrad region.

Prosecutors allege that in February 2023, Sidiki was recruited by Ukrainian military intelligence in Istanbul, underwent “sabotage training in Latvia,” and returned to Ryazan in March to plan the drone attack on the air base and the railway sabotage. He now faces charges under multiple articles of the Criminal Code, most related to terrorism.

Sidiki acknowledges carrying out these explosions but firmly rejects the “terrorist acts” label. He stresses his aim was to damage military targets, not harm civilians: “It was important for me to avoid civilian casualties, as my initial goal was specifically to damage military infrastructure—that is, a train carrying military cargo.”

While admitting to contacting Ukrainian intelligence representatives “a couple of times,” Sidiki maintains he planned his actions independently. He denies undergoing any training, claiming he already possessed the skills to assemble drones and produce explosives.

Sidiki doesn’t deny his involvement in the Dyagilevo attack and the freight train sabotage. However, he insists he didn’t plan further acts of sabotage—asserting that these confessions were extracted through torture by security forces.

After his arrest, the anarchist was beaten and tortured with electricity—both with stun gun shocks and using wires from a military field telephone. He was threatened with pliers to “peel the skin off his genitals” and rape with “various objects.” Late last week, the activist sent a statement about the torture to the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin. Mediazona is publishing Rouslan Sidiki’s full account of torture after his arrest.

“After several electric shocks, my consciousness became clouded—it’s unbearably painful”

Around late November 2023, I was returning home when a police officer stopped me near my entrance and showed me my photograph, which he said was from a surveillance camera located several kilometres from the train sabotage site (address: 190 km marker, 8th picket, 3rd main track of the Rybnoye-Block Post 204 km rail section).

The police officer ordered me to accompany him to police station No. 4 in Ryazan’s Prioksky district to explain my presence near the railway sabotage site.

At the station, they confiscated my phone and documents before a group in civilian clothes arrived. They led me to an office—I can’t recall its number—reached by turning right twice upon entering. There, a man of about 50, also in civilian clothes, threatened that if I didn’t confess to the sabotage voluntarily, they’d take me out of town, stage an escape attempt to legally shoot me, and torture me beforehand.

After I agreed to cooperate and testify, they inquired about chronic illnesses. When I said “no,” one of them struck my head, knocking me to the floor.

At least six people were in the office then. As I lay there, they pinned my hands and feet despite my lack of resistance. They exposed my ankles, and I felt them attaching something. Initially, I thought it was for restraint, but then one said to another: “Ring it!”

Suddenly, an electric current coursed through my body. My muscles contracted violently, causing unbearable pain. I screamed and thrashed my head against the floor while one of them filmed me on a phone.

To muffle my screams, they stuffed a rag in my mouth. The shock felt comparable to a 220 Volt socket discharge. As an electrician who has experienced electrocution, I can make this comparison.

I can’t pinpoint how long the torture lasted. After several electric shocks, my consciousness clouded, but I can say it was unbearably painful.

Between shocks, unidentified people questioned me. If unsatisfied with my answers, they’d shock me again. When asked about my visit to Turkey in August 2023, I explained I was en route to visit my mother in Great Britain. They accused me of meeting Ukrainian or British intelligence agents and continued torturing me.

They inquired about future sabotage plans. I denied any, but they persisted. On the brink, I realised I had to say something to stop them.

I suggested “maybe in a couple of months.” Unsatisfied, they demanded a specific date and location, shouting. I named a random date—January or February 2024, I think—and a place outside Ryazan I’d never visited.

The torture with this device then ceased. I believe it was a TA-57 or TP-57 field telephone, based on indirect evidence and their conversation. One would command: “Ring it!,” while instructing others to “Turn slower” or “Turn faster.”

As a collector of USSR civil defence items, I’d encountered this device before. Once, while testing it, I accidentally shocked myself. You turn a small handle to deliver the shock, confirming my belief they used a field telephone for torture.

Afterwards, they placed a bag with a small hole over my head, handcuffed me behind my back, and lifted me by the cuffs. My legs were unresponsive; I was essentially hanging by the handcuffs, which cut into my skin.

The torturers also applied psychological pressure, threatening to “peel the skin off my genitals” with pliers and rape me with various objects.

They dragged me to a white UAZ Patriot SUV, placing me on the floor between seats. Masked individuals in the back began beating me, pressing my shins and striking my back, spine, kidneys, and ribs. Breathing became difficult, especially with the bag on my head. They ignored my pleas to remove it.

We arrived at my cache location. I revealed it, then they resumed beating me, focusing on my stomach. When I fell, they dragged me by the handcuffs, cutting my hands. My watch was torn off; one of them pocketed it.

After the street beating, they forced me back into the car, continuing to drive and beat me until morning. They then put me in the boot and took me to an office near Ryazan-2 railway station. I remained there until late evening, giving testimony after more than a day without sleep, food, or water. My body ached severely, and breathing was hard.

During the investigator’s interrogation, my assailants sat beside me. For obvious reasons, I couldn’t mention the pressure I was under, though my appearance likely revealed it.

Before the interrogation, they threatened to shoot off my fingers with a pistol. They also filmed a staged video of my “detention” in a garage area and my “sincere confession” in the office.

Throughout the torture and beatings, they persistently demanded I give up non-existent “accomplices.” Unsatisfied with my insistence that I acted alone, they’d respond with either an electric shock or a blow to the head.

After testifying, they took me to a temporary detention facility at night. I managed some sleep after nearly a day of continuous torture and beatings. In the morning, investigator Osipov arrived with a state-provided attorney and masked people.

They placed me in a car with only masked people, while the investigator and lawyer travelled separately. En route to the cache and sabotage locations, the masked individuals immediately resumed beating my head, chest, and stomach upon leaving the detention facility.

They also used a baton-like stun gun, repeatedly shocking me until its charge depleted. This device left dot-like burns on my body and scorched my clothes. They targeted my right arm, buttocks, and back. When it ran out of charge, one assailant called for a replacement, but fortunately, none was available.

I’m certain these masked people weren’t acting independently: after the beatings, I had visible bruises and marks on my face, and the investigator and lawyer in the other car seemed aware of these actions, ignoring signs of torture.

That evening, they returned me to the detention facility, where staff noted my injuries during admission. A masked person questioned the source of my facial injuries. When I said he had caused them, he struck me, warning me not to repeat that. Asked again, I claimed I’d hit something somewhere.

These experiences convinced me that “law enforcement” could torture with impunity, and any complaints would only intensify the brutality. Consequently, I avoided explaining my injuries at various institutions, though their nature clearly ruled out accidents.

The next morning, masked and plainclothes people again removed me from the facility, handcuffed me to a van’s floor, and transported me to Moscow’s Dorogomilovsky District Court. There, they determined my preventive measure and documented my injuries.

Post-court, they took me to SIZO-7 detention center, where my injuries were again recorded. In SIZO-7, individuals present during my initial torture came to interrogate me. A state lawyer named Shchur accompanied them. After Shchur left, they threatened that if I caused problems or gave insufficiently “truthful” testimony, they’d “get me” wherever I was, repeating the events of my first days in detention.

These threats contributed to my fear of reporting the torture. Honestly, I still fear for my life and health from those who tortured and beat me after my arrest.

Editor: Egor Skovoroda

Correction: Spelling of the name was changed from more common Ruslan Siddiqui to Rouslan Sidiki, as it is spelled in his Italian documents.