ON 19 JUNE 2022, 5 PEOPLE WITH WEAPONS AND WEARING RUSSIAN MILITARY UNIFORMS CAME TO MY HOUSE. THEY HAD ONLY "Z" INSIGNIA, BUT THEY DID NOT HIDE THEIR FACES. THEY WERE BROUGHT BY A LOCAL RESIDENT WHO AGREED TO COOPERATE WITH THEM. THEY PROMISED TO LET HIM GO IF HE HANDED OVER THREE PEOPLE. WE WERE NOT FRIENDS, I JUST KNEW HIM BY SIGHT. THE MILITARY SEARCHED MY HOUSE, THEY WERE INTERESTED IN WEAPONS, WHERE I SERVED, AND THE NAMES OF FORMER SOLDIERS. AFTER THE SEARCH, THEY LOADED ME INTO A «SOBOL» CAR, BLINDFOLDED ME, PULLED MY HOOD OVER MY HEAD, AND DROVE TO TWO MORE ADDRESSES. THE FIRST ADDRESS WAS NEARBY, AND THE SECOND WAS IN A NEIGHBORING VILLAGE, WHICH I FOUND OUT LATER. THEN THEY BROUGHT US TO THE POLICE STATION AND PUT US AGAINST THE WALL. AFTER 2-3 HOURS, THEY BROUGHT US INSIDE THE DEPARTMENT, TOOK OFF OUR MASKS, CONNECTED THE WIRES FROM THE «TAPIK», STARTED TO SHOCK US, AND ASK THE SAME QUESTIONS AS DURING THE SEARCH AT HOME. THE INTERROGATION WAS CONDUCTED BY 5 PEOPLE AND LASTED ABOUT AN HOUR. TWO OF THEM WERE STANDING WITH MACHINE GUNS, THE THIRD ONE WAS BEATING ME, THE FOURTH ONE WAS RECORDING EVERYTHING, AND THE FIFTH ONE WAS CHECKING MY PHONE. AFTER THE INTERROGATION, I WAS TAKEN TO A PERIMETER COURTYARD SURROUNDED BY WALLS AND A GRATE AND THE SKY ABOVE MY HEAD. I HAD TO SLEEP THERE ON PLASTIC BOTTLES, REFUSED TO EAT, AND DRANK ONLY WATER. AFTER THREE DAYS, THEY DRAGGED ME FROM THE EXERCISE YARD TO THE CELL, BECAUSE MY LEGS WERE SWOLLEN AND I COULD NOT WALK ON MY OWN. THERE WERE 12 PEOPLE IN A CELL DESIGNED FOR THREE. WE WERE FED ONCE OR TWICE A DAY. OFTEN IT WAS SOME SOUR PASTA THAT THE MILITARY APPARENTLY DID NOT FINISH AND 10 SMALL PIECES OF BREAD. WE MANAGED TO SURVIVE BY RECEIVING PARCELS FROM RELATIVES, WHICH WERE CAREFULLY CHECKED, AND AFTER THE CHECK, HALF OF THEM WERE ALLOWED INTO THE CELL.
THE CELLS WERE SO OVERCROWDED THAT PEOPLE WERE HUNG BY THEIR HANDS IN THE CORRIDORS WHERE THEY COULD SPEND SEVERAL DAYS IN THIS POSITION. THERE WERE CONSTANT SCREAMS OF MEN AND WOMEN IN THE BUILDING, EVEN ON DAYS WHEN RELATIVES BROUGHT PARCELS. MOST INTERROGATIONS TOOK PLACE IN THE EVENING AND AT NIGHT. WHEN THEY DRAGGED THE BODIES OF THE KILLED OR DEAD DOWN THE CORRIDOR, THEY CLOSED THE "FEEDING TROUGHS" AND FORBADE US TO APPROACH THEM SO THAT WE COULD NOT SEE THEM. IF SOMEONE IN THE CELL STILL APPROACHED THE "FEEDING TROUGH", THEY BEAT EVERYONE. SOMETIMES THEY CAME INTO THE CELL, PUT US AGAINST THE WALL, AND FORCED US TO SING THE RUSSIAN ANTHEM, AND IF WE DIDN'T SING, THEY BEAT US WITH STICKS. THEY BEAT MOSTLY LOCALS WHO HAD SIDED WITH THE RUSSIANS. THE HARDEST THING TO BEAR WAS SOMEONE'S SCREAMS, MOANS, AND CRIES. WE WERE CONSTANTLY THREATENED WITH BEING SENT TO MINE THE FIELDS. PEOPLE FROM OUR CELL WERE NOT INVOLVED IN THE WORK, ALTHOUGH WE ASKED TO SEE SOME OF OUR RELATIVES OR FRIENDS.
WE WERE WAITING FOR DINNER BECAUSE THERE WAS NO BREAKFAST THAT DAY. IN THE CORRIDOR, WE HEARD SCREAMS AND NOISE, THE SOUNDS OF DOORS BEING LOCKED AND BOLTED, AND THEN SUDDEN SILENCE. AN HOUR LATER, THOSE CHAINED IN THE CORRIDOR STARTED ASKING FOR WATER, BUT NO ONE RESPONDED. THEN, THOSE IN THE FIRST CELL TORE OFF THE BENCH AND BEGAN TO KNOCK THE BARS OUTSIDE. AFTER BREAKING IT DOWN, THEY CLIMBED THROUGH IT, FOUND THE KEYS, AND OPENED ALL THE CELLS. WHEN IT WAS OUR TURN, THE "FEEDING TROUGH" OPENED AND A GUY'S HEAD STUCK THROUGH IT AND ASKED: "ARE YOU COMING OUT?" WE COULD NOT RELEASE EVERYONE AT ONCE, THE PROBLEM AROSE WITH THOSE WHO WERE CHAINED IN THE CORRIDORS. WE COULDN'T FIND THE KEYS TO THE HANDCUFFS, SO WE STARTED LOOKING FOR A TOOL TO FREE THE PRISONERS. WE MANAGED TO FIND A "GRINDER" WITH WHICH WE CUT THE HANDCUFFS. THE MORE ACTIVE ONES FOUND AND SET FIRE TO THE PERSONAL FILES THAT THE RUSSIANS HAD ON US. ALREADY IN THE SMOKE AND CHAOS, WE STARTED LOOKING FOR PERSONAL BELONGINGS, AND WHEN I FOUND MY DOCUMENTS, I TOOK THEM AND WENT HOME.
BEING IN THE DEPARTMENT FOR TWO MONTHS, I DIDN'T KNOW HOW MANY OF US WERE THERE, AND ONLY WHEN WE ALL WENT OUTSIDE DID I SEE MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED PEOPLE, MANY OF WHOM WERE WOMEN.
THREE DAYS LATER, THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE LIBERATED OUR CITY.
