Photo: Wyborcza
Polish citizen Krzysztof Galos, who died in 2023 in a Russian pretrial detention center, was buried at a cemetery in Taganrog, the newspaper Wyborcza writes. Instead of a regular grave, a stake was driven into the ground at the burial site with a sheet wrapped in plastic: it lists the Pole’s name in Russian with mistakes, as well as his dates of birth and death.
Circumstances of death. Krzysztof Galos, a resident of Krakow, died in SIZO-2 in Taganrog back in 2023, but this became known only at the end of March.
The Polish citizen detained in Enerhodar died in Taganrog’s pretrial detention center
According to media reports, in April 2023 the Pole went to Ukraine to “see what was happening there.” He was first in the areas of Odesa and Kherson, and later traveled to occupied Enerhodar, allegedly to see a girlfriend. He was later detained by Russian security forces.
Galos was taken to SIZO-2 in Taganrog. He was tortured there. On one occasion, the Pole was severely beaten with sticks and kicks after he looked out the cell window and saw security officers without balaclavas in the detention center’s inner yard. Presumably, this is what caused his death.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, for its part, said that Polish citizen Krzysztof Galos died of natural causes, due to “cardiomyopathy of unspecified etiology, which led to the development of cerebral edema, pulmonary edema, and acute cardiovascular failure.”
What journalists learned next. A Wyborcza reporter received a photograph of Galos’s burial site from a friend. He said that recently “there were Poles” at the grave who brought a candle. Presumably, they were employees of the Polish diplomatic mission.
Galos’s family is demanding that his body be returned to Poland. The republic’s Foreign Ministry said it was ready to support the relatives, but the Russian side has not yet responded to the request for the transfer of the body.