the testimony of a Ukrainian prisoner, who says he was tortured

Since last March, Azat Azatian’s daily life has been to cross the lines to pick up the inhabitants stranded on the Russian side in Mariupol and bring them back to Ukrainian territory. On 25 occasions, he risked his life to save those of others. “Once a shell fell right behind us. The car lifted and jumped from the shock”, says the 40-year-old Ukrainian. Last August, Azat Azatian was stopped by the Russians at a checkpoint. He spent 42 days in prison, an eternity.

“They put a plastic bag over my head, before taking me to a torture room. That’s what it was called, but I think it’s mostly an interrogation room”he says. “They started beating me. They also tied wires to my feet connected to electricity. When they pressed the button, I was screaming, I was in shock and I couldn’t move because I ‘was tied to a chair’, continues the Ukrainian. When he no longer believed in it, Azat Azatian was finally released. But the abuse he suffered left its mark.