I have never seen such cruelty to people, it is unbearable torture
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Ukrainian border guard Alexander Zarva
They shot at us and captured us, they abused me because of my tattoos, let dogs bite me... They did everything to me, and I was forced to write a note that said, "Please shoot me."
I worked as a prisoner of war for 21 months. I must defend my homeland. I entered service in 2015 until I was captured. I served in the Border Guards.
On February 23-24, 22, ** flew over and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. We drove in the direction of Kharkov, and during the defense of Borova we were surrounded, and before we destroyed their columns, we were told to leave. We didn't manage to get out and we found a patrol car, I was driving, and three other people got into the car with me.
Then we were hit, and captured. They blindfolded us, went from place to place, and finally crossed the border.
Later we were taken to the prisoner of war center, and they started asking questions, because I had limb injuries, and they provided medical care, and they cut open the wound on my leg without giving me anesthesia, cleaned it up, and stitched it up. That's it. We stayed there until April 25, which was Easter, and the day after Easter we were taken to the detention center. And then it began: beatings, torture, humiliation.
I've never seen such cruelty to people. I don't know what we have done to them in our lives, although they claim: "We are a Slavic people, we should be friends".
I don't know what we did to them, they let the dogs attack us and beat us. It was unbearable torture. They gave us peanut skins, and if you didn't eat them, they dragged you outside the cell and beat you. We ate bread and water and we stayed there until October.
On October 1 we were transferred to a prison where we were beaten and imprisoned. For the first 2 and a half months, we had to get up at 6 a.m., sing the Russian national anthem, we were not allowed to sit, we had to stand for 16 hours a day, we ate standing up, asked to open or close the windows, went to the bathroom, and went to bed at a fixed time.
Even at night, they would wake us up, take us outside, beat us, and then take us back again.
Porridge was available for breakfast, we had 6 people in a room, we were given 3 plates, each plate had 3 and a half spoons of porridge. Two people eat a plate. At first, they gave us bread, but then they didn't give it. Lunch, again, three plates with some liquid food in them.
In the second stage, the three of us only got a set. That's it. There was also no bread for dinner. At first they gave us tea or sugar to boil fruit, and then there was nothing.
The water from the faucet is only technical, and people's teeth are falling out. At the time of my captivity, I weighed 115 kilograms, and a few months later, I lost 45 kilograms.
We washed our clothes in cold water in our cells and they gave us laundry detergent. They didn't let us change into prison uniforms.
In the summer, we were taken out to let the wind out. They gave us books about the patriotism of Lenin and Stalin.
Then they gave us 50 names of the heroes who died in Kharkov and Lugansk, and we have to memorize the names of these so-called Russian heroes. If you're wrong, you'll be beaten. Many people don't have a single intact rib on their body. But thank God they were all healed.
The Russians tell us that they have seized almost all of Ukraine, and we don't believe it. The way we find the information is that they give us a list of the names of their dead heroes, which says they died in ** and when.
From these lists we have roughly deduced that they are in the same place.
They force us to shout slogans that insult us, and other things. But we try not to do it.
I refused to do it, so they stood behind me with a machine gun and told me to read it out, and I said I wouldn't do it. They ordered me to write a note and shoot me. It happened twice, but I wasn't killed. I don't want to say it, because none of that is true. Why am I lying.
There are some who surrender morally. They made a noose out of sheets and hung themselves. We stood by and closed our eyes. I wrote to my mother: Mom, I'm fine, alive, okay. After my mom confirmed that it was my handwriting. She wrote me back. But the Russians didn't let me see. I wanted to see my mom and hear her voice, and that's all I wanted. It's good to know her. But my dad didn't wait for me to die. We have to persevere to the end.
The remaining prisoners of war in the camps must also hold on. Their loved ones are waiting for them. Because sooner or later everything will end. Justice will win. We do not blame this war, I will continue to serve after I recover, until the end, we are invincible, our people are invincible, invincible.
- Tribute to the heroes of Ukraine who cannot be defeated!