HERSON A Russian grenade projectile fell a moment ago near the Dnipro River in the center. Two people are dead, and the charred bodies are still in the front seat of the car.
The atmosphere is tense. The presence of the reporters seems to annoy the local, who shouts and wonders why we are there.
In Kherson, the nerves of the residents are still being frayed by Russian artillery.
Ukraine liberated the city from Russian occupation in November 2022, and Russian forces withdrew to the east of the river. Nine months of torment was finally over, and hope was high. A party was held in Herson city square.
The person from Kherson was particularly relieved Andrij Andryušenkowho was a prisoner of the Russians and tortured for 47 days.
In this story, we tell his story.
About 73Â 000 people now live in the city. Before the war, there were more than 330,000 inhabitants. A large part of the buildings have suffered or been destroyed. Plywood sheets have been placed in place of the broken windows, and the residents call Kherson the city of broken windows.
However, the Ukrainian flag flies again in the city’s deserted central square.
When the Russians occupied the city at the end of February 2022, the Ukrainians dared to make public resistance at first. Young people gathered to play loud Ukrainian songs in front of Russian soldiers. The atmosphere soon changed.
The Russians began to break up the demonstrations with violence. Andrjušenko started to do unarmed resistance with other like-minded people.
– When the city’s last Ukrainian flag was lowered on March 7, we got the idea to hang thousands of Ukrainian flags around the city. We ordered blue and yellow ribbons from the seamstress and hung them everywhere.
Then the blue and yellow fabric ran out. Next, the group started writing and painting Ukrainian flags and pro-Ukraine slogans on the walls of the houses. They were especially made for buildings where Russian soldiers were housed.
– It made them nervous. When they woke up in the morning, they saw that the windows read something like “rise Cossack – die orc†.
Ukrainians began to call Russian soldiers villains after the full-scale Russian invasion began.
– When I was later a prisoner of the Russians and being tortured, I understood what kind of rage the texts aroused in them, Andrjušenko says.
Over time, the group dispersed, and AndrjuÅ¡enko continued alone. He began to think about taking up armed resistance. He already had explosives and a gun at home. AndrjuÅ¡enko says he didn’t have time to use them.
Imprisonment and torture
Everything changed on August 4, 2022. Russians stormed the cafe where Andrjušenko was sitting.
– There were 12 soldiers. They put everyone on the floor and asked who is Andrjušenko. I was taken to another building, where the beating and interrogation began immediately.
Andrjušenko tells about his experiences on the ground floor of a restaurant in Kherson due to the danger caused by Russian artillery.
– Already during the first hours I was beaten with a hammer and my ears were cut. They did everything that can be done to a person without killing him, Andrjušenko says.
Andrjušenko was then taken to his apartment, where the soldiers found explosives and cartridges. The questioning continued even harder than before. In the apartment, the Russians started using devices developed for torture.
– They didn’t get the answers they wanted, so they took me to prison, where the interrogation and beating continued for a few more hours.
Soon, AndrjuÅ¡enko’s physical condition collapsed and he began to lose consciousness constantly. AndrjuÅ¡enko was thrown into a cell. The Russians said that “then you tell me in the morning and we will let you go.â€
The soldiers wanted to get Andryušenko to reveal, first of all, an address where Ukrainian resistance fighters lived or where weapons were stored.
– They imagined that every Kherson man has Himars, 115 security service soldiers and a personal bunker full of weapons in his basement, Andrjušenko says.
However, the torment was just beginning. In the morning, the Russians wanted to use a lie detector, but the expert responsible for the device said that the prisoner’s physical condition did not allow for reliable results, says AndrjuÅ¡enko.
– They said that if the lie detector doesn’t work, then we’ll try to – extort Zelensky†.
AndrjuÅ¡enko says that “the torture of Zelenskyi†refers to the famous torture method used by the Russians. Two wires are tied to the prisoner’s genitals, which are used to deliver electric shocks from a field phone.
Soon, Andrjušenko had to go through that form of torture almost every day.
You get used to torture in a way
Andrjušenko describes the torture accurately. According to him, a person even adapts to torture.
– After a couple of weeks, when new men were brought to the cell, I jokingly described to them what any form of torture felt like.
The hell continued for 47 days – the Russians threatened to kill him every single day.
Andrjušenko says that he got the strength to survive from other prisoners.
He says that he met several prisoners who had seen his murals and told them that they brought them motivation and hope.
– I realized that my work had not been wasted. In addition, the new prisoners brought news and said that the Ukrainians will soon be in Kherson.
Hope was also raised by the ever-approaching Ukrainian artillery.
– There were rags in front of the windows, which blew the louder the closer the Ukrainian projectile had hit. And we were hoping that some projectile would accidentally hit the wall so we could try to escape.
“When the gates opened, I just started running hard.â€
In September 2022, Andrjušenko had a stroke of luck. A new interrogator came to the prison. According to Andrjušenko, this was not up to date, and he did not know what had been found in his apartment.
– I told him that I painted patriotic murals for money because I would have had no other way to survive. I could have told him anything and he would have believed.
AndrjuÅ¡enko believes that interrogators are generally motivated by the opportunity to advance in an army career. If they get useful information out of the prisoner, a badge or promotion may await them. That’s why the interrogators changed several times.
– He asked me if I was still going to do graffiti. I replied that I would never draw them again. Then he said good, go get your crutches.
– I thought that now I will either be shot or sent to Crimea for trial.
Then the interrogator gave the order to take Andrjušenko to the gate. He still believed he was about to be shot.
– When the gates opened, I just started running hard.
Systematic activity of the Russians
Herson’s local police confirm to that AndrjuÅ¡enko was a prisoner for 47 days and that he was tortured.
Also the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi wrote about AndrjuÅ¡enko’s imprisonment and torture on his social media account after the liberation of the city of Kherson.
The Russians aret practiced and are practicing systematic torture in occupied territories. Several human rights organizations have accused Russia in Geneva for breach of contract.
In the liberated part of Kherson, the Russians held Ukrainians in more than 20 detention centers, according to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch.
The prosecutor investigating Russian torture estimates that the Russians held at least 4,000–5,000 Ukrainians in Kherson in the region of eight months during the occupation. Ukrainian children too was captured from the Kherson region To Russia.
The neighbor did not recognize
Andrjušenko says that after getting out of prison and going home, he met a neighbor he knew from years ago.
– He didn’t recognize me. It felt stupid that I had to prove to him who I am, says AndrjuÅ¡enko.
Andrjušenko believes that he lost about 15 kilos during his imprisonment.
– Seeing the sky after that experience was incredible. There is nothing better than fresh air and the understanding that you are not limited by anything. Those were the finest moments of my life, Andrjušenko says.
He regards his release as an unexpected twist of fate, “God’s gift†– and on the other hand as complete carelessness on the part of the Russians.
I ask Andrjušenko what he would do if he met his tormentor on the street. The answer is surprising.
– This may sound a little strange, but it is certain that I would not treat them the way they treated me. I’d probably be thankful they didn’t kill me.
Andryušenko explains that he is happy to be alive, because now he can work to ensure that the Russians who tortured Ukrainian prisoners are brought to justice.
– Otherwise, we wouldn’t separate from them in any way. My case shows that nothing can be achieved with violence.