the painful testimony of a Ukrainian soldier, former captive

For this exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia, the two camps conducted negotiations in the greatest secrecy. Since the beginning of the war, more than 1,500 soldiers have been repatriated by Kyiv. Some are injured, all are walking towards freedom. The faces are marked. They tread their land with emotion and make the very first call to family. Among these former prisoners, a soldier who spent 10 months in detention. His name is Maxim.

“Very often they hit our heads against the walls”

A team from France Télévisions finds him two months after his release, in a park in kyiv. Talking about his captivity is still painful, but he accepts, he says, “so the world knows”. “They took us to a prison where before, Russian prisoners were detained. There were I would say, 60% civilians. At 8 o’clock, we all had to be lined up in a corridor, and they forced us to take the positions for a long time. the most uncomfortable ones. (…) They hit our limbs, and very often they hit our heads against the walls. (…) We had two small cups of meals a day, less than 300 grams”, says the former captive. The Russian military wants to punish the prisoners who guided the artillery fire on their positions. Maxime also claims that civilians accused of spying are very violently beaten.