As part of a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia on August 24, former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolaenko was rescued from captivity. The occupiers detained him after he refused to cooperate with the enemy. Mykolaenko spent more than three years in captivity. He could have returned much earlier, but he refused the exchange in favor of a seriously ill prisoner of war.
Mykolaenko before and after Russian captivity (source).
He later told about his experience - translating from UNIAN, Oct 17:
"They were convinced, in any case, that they were right, and that truth was on their side, and that we were some kind of feeble-minded people, some kind of propaganda-infused people, and that Right Sector, Azov, and Aidar were roaming our streets, intimidating people. People would generally like to see the Russian army and greet them with flowers, bread, and salt. And they believed that only these "fascists" were preventing people from realizing their free will."
The former mayor emphasized that the Russians were forbidden from personally communicating with the prisoners, but they answered his questions. "When things were really bad, I was convinced, I thought, that I would never return from this captivity. I asked one of the investigators: 'Is there a body swap, or are you just going to leave me under a fence somewhere for the dogs to tear apart?' He said, 'No, no one has cancelled the body swap.' This was, you know, also a positive thing for me, because I knew at least my family would get a body. Thank God that didn't happen. But they promised me, 'You'll never get out of prison, you'll die here.' And indeed, that was their sentiment, so I consider my release a miracle."
No comments:
Post a Comment