[Witness spoke in Ukrainian, interpreted as follows:]
Thank you.
My name is Denys. I am 18 years old now. During the occupation of my city of Kherson, I was taken to Crimea against my will.
Military officers came to my apartment and said, “We don't care whether you want to go or not, but you will still go.” My parents were shocked. They could not argue with armed officers.
We were then taken on a school bus to the Kherson river port. They were saying we were going to a camp for two weeks and then we'd come back. We were taken to Oleshky, where we waited for a bus for three and a half hours.
The camp leader was formerly in the Ukrainian special forces. His name is Valery Astakhov and he fled in 2014. He kept saying that Russia was better than Ukraine. He was saying that here in the camp, if you said something bad, you would have to walk back to your home.
I am a diabetic. I went to the infirmary and said, “I'm almost out of insulin.” I was told, “Come back when you are completely out of insulin.” After a month, I was really feeling bad because I had no more insulin, and an ambulance took me to an ICU in Yevpatoria. It took several hours to transport me there. I spent two or three days in the intensive care unit, and then I was taken to Simferopol for three weeks so that I could get insulin and medical care.
In February 2023, all students had to be sent to study in Crimea. I was sent to study a year earlier as a machinery operator. I did not want to study, but I was forced to. I ended up in the naval technological college in the city of Kerch. I studied there until the end of the school year.
I was constantly told to get a Russian passport. I kept saying I didn't want a Russian passport. I didn't want to receive one.
A friend of mine called me and said there was an opportunity to go back home, that there was an organization called Save Ukraine that helps children go back home.
I called the hotline from a Russian number. I called Save Ukraine and I provided them with all the information I had to be able to go back home. I said that my parents couldn't come and pick me up. Together with Save Ukraine, we started to arrange power of attorney for the mother of a friend of mine. When I knew someone was coming to pick me up, I was so happy. I didn't even know what to do.
At the border checkpoints, we were interrogated by the Russian security services. They were checking our phones. When I saw the word “Ukraine”, I just picked up my heavy bag and shouted, “Glory to Ukraine”, because I understood I was finally home.
Thank you.