March 30, 2026

Detained Polish Citizen Dies in Taganrog Pre-trial Detention Center

In 2023, Polish citizen Krzysztof Galos died in pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Taganrog. Russian authorities did not report his death for a long time, but the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently confirmed this information, as reported by Gazeta Wyborcza. According to the publication, Krzysztof Galos, a resident of Krakow, traveled to Ukraine in April 2023 to 'see what was happening there.' Initially, he was in the Odessa and Kherson regions, under Ukrainian control. Later, the Pole told Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers that he wanted to go to occupied Energodar, claiming a girlfriend was waiting for him there. The military did not allow him to proceed, but he managed to get to Energodar on his own. After some time, he was detained by Russian security forces. According to Slidstvo.info, Galos was taken to pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Taganrog. According to Ukrainian military prisoners held there, the Pole was subjected to torture, a claim also confirmed by the human rights organization Memorial. One Ukrainian soldier told the publication 'Tak-tak' that Galos was severely beaten with sticks and kicked after looking out his cell window and seeing security forces without balaclavas in the pre-trial detention center's courtyard, which is presumed to have led to his death. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Krzysztof Galos died of natural causes due to 'cardiomyopathy of unknown etiology, which led to cerebral edema, pulmonary edema, and acute cardiovascular failure.' The Pole was buried in Taganrog in July 2023. The same pre-trial detention center housed the deceased 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchina, who was captured in August 2023 while reporting in occupied territories and was also subjected to torture by Federal Penitentiary Service officers.