The Soviet-era telephone is used to electrocute prisoners and civilians (Picture: Sergeev Pavel)

A sickening new torture method used against Ukrainian prisoners and civilians has been detailed in a new United Nations report.

Dubbed the ‘call to Putin’,the method sees Russian forces electrocute Ukrainians on the genitals and feet with a dated Soviet military telephone.

The Soviet-era TA-57 field telephone,named ‘tapik’,uses exposed wires to deliver a shock of 80 volts to the victims.

Dr Alice Jill Edwards,the UN special rapporteur on torture,told The Telegraph the scale of torture in the Ukraine-Russia conflict is ‘off the charts’.

She will send another letter to the Kremlin today,urging a reply on the torture allegations – ranging from electric shocks from the ‘tapik’ to gang rapes and beatings.

‘At no time have I seen directives from the hierarchy for Russian soldiers and others to stop torturing. That’s what I’ve asked for. Those directives do not exist,’ she said.

Upon liberating many cities,Ukrainian soldiers found evidence of widespread torture (Picture: Reuters)

Dr Edwards said torture of civilians and prisoners is ‘widespread and systematic’ proof of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

She added: ‘The Russian state itself will be held accountable. Torture remains part of,in my view,Russian war tactics and war policy.’

One victim in the report,a 50-year-old from Kherson,was detained twice,where he was electrocuted and sodomised with a rifle.

One of the war’s most brutal examples of group torture was two months into the conflict,when Russian troops sodomised and tortured the residents of Bucha.

Many citizens were men,aged between 16-60,who were later executed by Russian troops for fear they would begin fighting back.

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Hi,I’m Sarah Hooper. I cover American politics, foreign affairs and all things news at Metro.If you want to stay up to date on news from around the world,why not sign up for our News Updates newsletter?Read my reporting in the morning newsletter (Picture: Natasha Pszenicki)From real-life features to the top headlines from around the world,we deliver the biggest stories straight to your inbox,every morning.Sign up now.On Yablunska Street,more than 11 bodies were seen on satellite imagery by March 11,2022,after Russian troops opened fire on civilians getting basic necessities.Volodymyr Shepitko,66,told the New York Times when he returned to his home in Bucha after its liberation in 2022,he discovered the body of a naked woman,wearing just a fur coat,in the cellar under his garden shed.Beside her body,there were condom wrappers and a used condom,along with the two bullet casings used to kill her.In Bucha,torture was widespread (Picture: AFP)Ukraine’s official ombudswoman for human rights,Lyudmyla Denisova,said that many women were sexually abused in Bucha while the town was under Russian control.Ms Denisova said she recorded one instance of sexual violence by Russian troops where a group of women and girls were kept in a basement for 25 days. Nine of them fell pregnant. Stay Safe co-founder Andriy said: ‘When we spoke with these people,we all cried because of their stories- we heard how the Russians had killed their neighbours,how they stripped men naked and were throwing them around,and other things which were much,much worse.’