Former Kherson mayor Mykolaienko on Russian captivity: They beat us and fed us just enough so we wouldn’t starve to death. We picked nettles to get at least some vitamins
Former Kherson Mayor Volodymyr Mykolaienko has lost 25 kilograms while in enemy captivity.
This was reported by former Kherson Mayor Volodymyr Mykolaienko in an interview with Censor.NET.
"With that food, it couldn't be any other way. They fed us so that we wouldn't die of hunger," he said.
"They (the occupiers. - Ed.) save on bread in general. Usually, it's wet, sticky, and inedible inside. It's all pennies... We didn't see any vitamins there. Only in June last year, but not every day, did they give us a tablespoon of some kind of grated beetroot. And that was it. So what did we do? They took us out to these little courtyards — about three by three metres, with bars — so we could ‘walk’. But how? You walk in circles with a T-shirt over your head, tied over your eyes. Because they were afraid that we would see their faces (even though they were wearing balaclavas) or some details around us. You walk and orient yourself only by your feet so as not to fall. Sometimes, there was a small bush of nettles growing near the fence. We picked them and each of us got two or three leaves to get at least some vitamins," said Mykolaienko.
However, when he announced his hunger strike, the Russians forced him to eat.
"We won't let you die of hunger. We'll tie you up and force-feed you. We'll feed you! You won't die. We'll tie you to a chair and use a feeding tube," Mykolaienko recalls their words.
Mykolaienko announced his hunger strike because of the systematic beatings of our prisoners by the occupiers.
"He kicked me in the chest, right in the heart. He hit me so hard that I crouched down. The guys helped me get to the cell. They were bringing me back for almost an hour... On the same day that I announced my hunger strike, in the evening, our guy (a Ukrainian master of sports in two disciplines, such a big guy) was taken out into the corridor and beaten so badly that he was thrown back into the cell barely alive. They kicked him in the head. The marks remained — everyone saw them. After talking to the investigator in our building, such beatings stopped," added the former mayor of Kherson.
He also said that while in captivity, he dreamed of a small cup of coffee and a piece of cheese. And also a bowl of cottage cheese with sour cream and some jam on top.
Read the full text of Mykolaienko's interview at the link.
