Voladimir Shevchenko spent more than two years in a Russian prison as a prisoner of war. They kept him in a cell with 15 other people. “Every day they beat us. For example, that we stand straight in the cell or that we move around it, because – as they claimed – we didn't know what we were fighting for. They called the beating re-education. They used electricity during the interrogations. They put us on a chair, covered our heads with a pillow case and started… The electric shock regularly knocked me off the chair, I just couldn't control myself.“
Deprivation of food
During the beatings of Shevchenko, three of his teeth were knocked out. But the worst, he says, was the deprivation of food. He lost more than 20 kilograms. “We were not allowed to share our food. They did it on purpose. There were sixteen of us and they threw us a dozen pieces of bread. They punished us if we gave to someone else. They wanted to make us fight each other for food. We collected every crumb of bread.“
Being with other Ukrainians kept him going, helping him survive, the former POW says. “Among us there were people with all kinds of professions - construction workers, car mechanics and others. We would come up with topics to talk about to keep us going. Every day – again and again. I was saying: Guys, don't close in on yourself.“
Defender of the “Azovstal“ combine
Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Shevchenko unit of the National Guard of Ukraine was sent to the southern port city of Mariupol. There he joined the defense of the city, and after the long Russian siege of the Azovstal metallurgical plant, the then 20-year-old soldier was among the thousands of defenders of the city who were ordered to surrender.
On June 25 this year, he finally returned to Ukraine after being included in a prisoner exchange group. It was a huge relief for him. But returning to normal life remains a challenge, he admits.
"I dropped everything I caught"
„I didn't know what to talk about with my parents, with my relatives. My father is currently fighting at the front. I was very happy to see him. I was not healthy - I dropped everything I held in my hands. I couldn't help but make my bed. It was very difficult for me. We were used to doing everything so quickly. If we were late, they beat us, you know?“
Many Ukrainians are still in Russian captivity. But they are not forgotten. Shevchenko met and talked with the families of other fighters from the "Azov" battalion who have not yet been released. In Ukraine they are heroes, but in Russia they are hated and rarely appear on prisoner exchange lists.
A mother is waiting for her son
„I shuddered with each subsequent exchange, but my son never came back. Every time I hope that he will be among those released, but it does not happen. It kills me, my heart just stops when it becomes clear that he was not included in the exchange lists again,” says one mother of a Ukrainian soldier held captive by the Russians.
Better luck was obtained by another fighter from the "Azov" battalion, with whom Shevchenko was together in Mariupol. He was recently released and his friend has already visited him. “I always told him that one day everything would be all right,”, he recalls.
Volodymyr Shevchenko is determined to document everything he has been through. He says he wants to become a blogger.