'I thought I was going to die': Abuses widespread in Ukraine
As violence escalates in Ukraine, human rights abuses have become widespread
By SAM MEDNICK and HANNA ARHIROVA
Published - Nov 18, 2022, 03:04 AM ET
Last Updated - Jun 23, 2023, 12:51 PM EDT
KYSELIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — For 10 days, Alesha Babenko was locked in a basement and regularly beaten by Russian soldiers. Bound, blindfolded and threatened with electric shocks, the 27-year-old pleaded for them to stop.
“I thought I was going to die,” he told The Associated Press.
In September, Babenko and his 14-year-old nephew, Vitaliy Mysharskiy, were arrested by Russian soldiers who occupied his village of Kyselivka in Ukraine's southern region of Kherson. They had been taking photos of destroyed tanks and sending them to the Ukrainian army.
Seated this week on a bench outside his home, Babenko was visibly shaken as he recounted the trauma of being thrown into a car, driven to the city of Kherson and interrogated until he confessed.
