“We were beaten twice a day”
Daily beatings, unclean food, 24-hour lighting and complete lack of hygiene. This was the ordeal of Vyacheslav Gorban, a Ukrainian prisoner of war in Russia, for five and a half months.
The 50-year-old metallurgical engineer chose to take up arms on February 24 to defend his city of Mariupol after Vladimir Putin pushed his forces into Ukraine.
the world Two days later, he met him as he stood guard at the entrance to a military hospital, hours before the industrial port was surrounded by Russian forces.
Published on 1stR In November, Vyacheslav Korban literally melted down as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia. “I lost 23 kg in 85”, explains in an even tone. He is currently hospitalized in Dnipro for a thyroid problem, but is expected to be discharged soon “within a week”.
His character has not changed: calm, restrained, determined. Hardened by trials. Before being captured, he spent two and a half months in the hell of Azovstal, the steel factory where he once worked, which became the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance.
This testimony sheds light on the terrible fate of prisoners of war in this conflict. As both sides refuse to authorize the inspection missions, the UN And NGOs are panicking.