[Witness spoke in Ukrainian, interpreted as follows:]
Hello. My name is Yevgen Mezhevoj. I was born in Ukraine and grew up in Ukraine, in Mariupol. I'm 40 years old.
At the beginning of 2016, I went to Chernivtsi, because things were not very safe in my hometown. I joined the armed forces of Ukraine. Until 2019, I was a serviceman in the armed forces of Ukraine.
Then, after a while, my wife left me alone with three children. After that, I stayed in Yavoriv.
After my contract was done, I returned to Mariupol and continued to work at the metal plant. I also branched out into a small business. On February 24, I was still working at the plant. I went to my children and I saw the situation at home. We packed up and we went to take shelter.
Until April 7, we went from one bomb shelter to another. We had to drink water from radiators and fire hydrants or anything that we could use to get some water. I did have a small business that was linked to catering, so I had some food left over.
On April 7, near the number 4 hospital in Mariupol, Russian military came to our bomb shelter and said that we had to evacuate because Chechen units were coming to clear the area and that this clearing process would be extremely rough.
I decided that, yes, we had to evacuate. We did evacuate to the town of Vynohradne. The children were fed there. They said that we had to keep moving further because this displaced persons camp was over capacity. They told us to move further. Everybody was indignant because many people were wounded. Some were elderly and some had heavy bags.
They took us to a checkpoint. Then they started to search our things, our documents, and everything was checked. No place was left unturned. They saw my papers and understood that I was formerly in the military. I was told to find someone who would pick up my children. They told me that I would be there, and I asked how long I would be there. They said that I could be there for two hours or I could be there for seven years.
I found someone to watch my children. They were placed on a bus, and they left to some place I didn't know.
Then I was interrogated and I was taken to various detention places. I ended up in Olenivka. I was beaten in Olenivka very roughly. In a one-person cell, there were 20 people. The cells were overflowing. Then, at the end of May, I was called to the warden, and I was told that I would be freed. On May 26, I was freed at 6 p.m. There were no buses, so I walked to Donetsk on foot, because Donetsk is where my documents were, including my passports and my children's passports. I walked through the night. I was in Donetsk the following morning.
I was told that my children had gone to Moscow on June 26 to a special camp for rest and recreation that was run by the office of the president. I was very nervous and anxious. I was stressed. I demanded that they give me a telephone number so I could communicate with my children.
I was able to speak with them. On June 15, my son called me. He said that two women were there, saying their camp stay was almost over and they have to place them somewhere. They were told two options, which were either go to a foster family or go to an orphanage—a residential school. He asked what they should do.
I said that I had to talk to him before making a decision. I said that maybe it's better to go to a residential school. I asked how many days it would be before they would be placed. They told me five days.
I had no money. Then, through friends, I saw a website of volunteers who helped with going back to Ukraine. I called the volunteers and told them about my situation. They started to help me remotely to go to my children. They paid for all my trips. They me helped me resolve the issues that arose.
Once I was three or four hours from Moscow, we wrote an official letter to the office of the president of Russia, demanding that my children be returned to me.
Yes, there were issues. We were solving them remotely with the team of volunteers—