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I also worked as a photographer.
At first I was against the Maidan because of the Russian propaganda, but eventually I came to a realization that it was propaganda.
On May 9, 2014, I took part in the Victory Day parade in Simferopol and I had a picture with me of my great-grandfather. He is the pride of the family. He participated in World War II. Suddenly some men in civilian clothes detained me and took me to a car. In the car they threw me on the ground, on the floor, and put a bag over my head. They were driving me and they took me to my apartment. They took my keys. They brought me into my apartment. I had a bag over my head. They were looking for some compromising pro-Ukrainian materials. Then they detained me. These were FSB personnel. They kept hitting me, beating me. They were beating me with boxing gloves so as not to leave any tracks on my head. I was detained for many days. I was surrounded all the time by interrogators, FSB officers. They wanted incriminating information on myself and other people. They were trying to accuse me of wanting to explode the Eternal Flame memorial.
I have to tell you some very unpleasant details about my detention because I think that you all should be aware of all the horrible things that are going on. It's been two years since the annexation of Crimea and there are many people who went through similar experiences to those I experienced. I was the subject of torture. They put a gas mask with a hose on my head and unscrewed a lower valve and sprayed the gas inside. I was throwing up. I was choking on my own vomit. They asked me to give evidence against Olexandr Kolchenko and Oleg Sentsov. I refused to incriminate them. In response they continued torturing me. They also demanded that I sign a plea agreement. Because of all the torture and pressure I had to sign it. They were also threatening to hurt my mother, and that had an effect.
During the trial of Olexandr Kolchenko and Oleg Sentsov I rescinded my testimony in front of witnesses and told in the court about the torture and the ways they made me give evidence against innocent people. Then I was transferred to prison again, but fortunately, because of the independent lawyers and human rights defenders, I managed to record these incidents. However, no one was actually punished for the torture that I suffered.
I was transferred to a nowadays gulag, which is the colony in the Komi Republic. The transfer was really hard. Air temperature reached 40 to 45 degrees. The railroad cars were so hot they had to be cooled down by a firefighting vehicle. There was no water and no toilets inside those cars. For two months and 15 days I had no communication with anyone. I didn't see anyone. I didn't talk to anyone except prison administration and security officials.
That's a very short version of the events that happened to me over a period of two years. For a person who stays in a solitary cell, every day lasts an eternity. It's a horror movie that is shown every day. I appeal to the international community to fight for those prisoners who are still captured, to support their families, and to maintain sanctions against Russia until the Kremlin meets its commitments.
Thank you very much.