by Marta Serafini, sent to Odessa
Artiom, 23, Ukrainian private soldier, in the Kiev army for two and a half years, was captured in the Kherson region and spent 18 days in the hands of the enemy: they broke my toe
The Kazakhs did the dirty work. They were the ones who beat us. Artiom – the invented name to protect his identity – is 23 years old. Ordinary Ukrainian soldier, in the Kiev army for two and a half years. was captured in the Kherson region. Eighteen days in Russian hands. And then traded a few days ago. They tortured me, they threatened to cut my finger. And they broke my toe, he says. Send pictures to Telegram. On the little finger a groove from side to side that was sewn up. On the nail of the big toe there is a black shadow and a bruise affecting the entire limb. Now safe in a Ukrainian military hospital. But don’t write where I am, in a few days I’ll be back at the front, I risk execution.
cough while speaking. I smoke too much, he says. He was locked in a cell for almost twenty days. Blindfolded. Along with two other companions. We ask him if he was raped. The women would have kept them elsewhere, he replies. They didn’t want any specific information, they already knew the answers. They tortured us so much for… Artiom talks on the phone about a comrade who was shot in the knee. Then the Russians came to give us medicine. They played the role of the good guys. But there are those – according to Artiom – who were killed because they tried to escape. I can’t say more. When they switched us, they made me sign a paper, don’t put me in danger, he asks. Now wait to be called back to get back to the front lines. I’m not afraid, I want to do it.
Sometimes he remembers the imprisonment. They fed us. First only liquid soup, last week they also put potatoes in it. It is not said where he was caught. Write only in the Kherson region. Cherson, the city occupied by the Russians since the beginning of the invasion. Cherson, from which they all run away. Cherson suffers when they tell her it will soon be annexed by Crimea. They force the town’s men to fight with the Russians. Then they order the population to stay indoors. Even when they published pictures of pro-Russia demonstrations, they initially strictly forbade anyone from going out. They do it because they don’t want anyone to see it.
Artiom thought several times in 18 days that he would not make it. After the beating, I fainted several times. When I recovered, I asked the Russians if I could call my fiancee to say hello. i thought i was going to die But they never let me. Everything was taken from Artiom and his companions over the phone, over the documents, over all personal belongings when they were arrested. We had mattresses and some jackets to cover us up, he continues. Cherson, where the fury of a war that began more than two months ago is burning. The Russians are trying to convince the population that they are on their side. They hand out food and try to look good. Artiom prepares to return to the front lines after 18 days in enemy hands. And there are still those from Europe who tell me that they don’t believe it’s just propaganda. And I get angry. Scream: Look what they did to me.
April 25, 2022 (Change April 25, 2022 | 21:28)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED