"Twice guilty": in a hell of "republican" prison camps. Part 3

"Twice guilty": in a hell of "republican" prison camps. Part 1

"Twice guilty": in a hell of "republican" prison camps. Part 2

- Tell me, if you know how occupation authorities look at you in general, i.e., whether consider you their citizens (especially given your non-local residence) - or, on the contrary would be happy to get rid of?

- Maybe they would be happy at this end but in Ukraine they are not much missed with us, so I write to you. We are not heroes, not "cyborgs", not prisoners of war, and everyone understands the specifics. But personally I think that the state shows itself in relation to those as we are, because heroes are in mind anyway.

Whether they believe we are their citizens or not I do not know. We have no any special status. They threaten judge all of us by local code (a mix of Soviet and Russian codes), but the courts either work or not, in general, there is no nothing specific. And it is not known yet, what kind of sentence would be if it will be judged in a new way: the term may be increased or a supreme penalty may be imposed. It turns out that I'm guilty twice.

- You have been in the penal colony since the beginning of the separatism events. Tell me, whether all were agreed with that has happened then?

- In 2014 there were both people. Local prisoners in their vast majority were not even on "LPR"-side and on joining to the Russian Federation. I communicated with different social strata, both in penal colony and with local not-imprisoned civilians. At first I made allowance for everything on the special contingent: about 90% of the convicts are actually lost and, to put it mildly, disadvantaged people but the opinion of the local civilians eventually turned out about the same. There was even my native friend with whom we do not communicate after those events. Again, I am from another region, and I do not understand how you can so easily abandon your country.

- What the thieves in law thought about it? Whether they had supported the new authority?

- I do not know what did the thieves in law thought. But the local "criminal committee" after a secret agreement with the administration did everything that there was no escapes because we almost have not been guarded at the time, and have no food - well, everything else was not executed, we were almost on their own.

- How many prisoners got to the front at the time either voluntarily or forcibly?

- It's all tales. As far as I know, there were not a single officially. Who knows what did each person after release? I know a few who went to war after release. In 2014 there were many rumors and tales that "separatists" would sent us to the front making a sort of a penal battalion. But it was on the level of conversations not only in our penal colony.

Who has really disbanded is 23th penal colony in Chernukhino. Poor guys caught in the crossfire of artillery during the battle for Debaltsevo, and many were killed, I do not know the precise number of them. There was no one to take away dead bodies for a long time. Some prisoners went to Ukraine (by the way, some of them were detained, and other walk freely, no one is interested), and a part remained in the "LPR": some are in prisons, and another "on the run". Local civilians thought out many rumors that we were all released ... In general, total nonsense: the bulk is in prison as usual.

- Have you seen for this 2 years your family, your mother, other relatives? Are visits allowed?

- I did not see anyone from my family including mu mother. But I forbade them by myself to come to this moron show. Visits of relatives are allowed, and have been organized many times at least throughout all this period.

- And finally, why you still do not want to give a link to at least your pseudonym? After you have decided to tell all about this and deserve help already for that only?

- Well, firstly, I have no illusions about the fact that someone from the "heads" would want to help a particular convict. My goal is to draw attention to all of us, and then, perhaps, to lucky me. I hope that your article will be the first impetus to a solution of the problem, and they begin to take out all of us, then I will leave this place also. Again (yes, probably, you should already know) that the topic did not rise at all anywhere. Well, if still someone will respond exactly to my problem let them contact me down you. I insist on that my account should not be mentioned publicly even though I'm under the pseudonym there. Sorry for such paranoia, but death is not the worst thing that could be here with me.

Interview by Stanislav Vasin for "OstroV", Donetsk

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