"He knew how to live": how Kremlin prisoner Hennadiy Afanasiev, who died in the battle with Russian forces, is remembered

Afanasyev is an undisputed symbol of the resistance movement, which with arms in hand brought closer the liberation of the homeland from the invaders.

This is how Alim Aliyev, a Ukrainian journalist and human rights activist, remembers his comrade killed in battle with Russian invaders. He says that before his release from the Russian prison he only knew of Hennadiy. 

"When the exchange took place, he came to Lviv. I was living there at that time. I remember that before that we exchanged messages and I offered him some help. That is, the most necessary things, like clothes, because he had nothing. My mother and grandmother left Crimea then, and I had to start my life all over again. Our first meeting took place in Franko Park, near the Lviv National University. And, you know, when I went to this meeting, I was frankly worried. Because you are going to meet a man who has been through hell and torture," says Alim. 

But in fact, he adds, they immediately established a connection.

"In the first minute, we connected. He was so smiley, energetic and positive... From that moment we became friends. Henadiy stayed with me in Lviv. There was still a hard sofa in the room, not very comfortable. I offered him additional mattresses to make it more comfortable. And he kept joking that after prison it did not bother him at all. In fact, the first job I offered him after prison was to be the coordinator of the website of the interactive map on human rights violations, which we were making at that time," Alim says about his deceased comrade. 

Later, he recalls, they went on many advocacy missions to talk about the horrors of torture, about how he was tortured with electric shocks. And also to remind about all other Ukrainian and Crimean prisoners, who are still in Russian prisons.

"I remember Brussels, Strasbourg, Prague, where Hennadiy and I talked a lot about all these things. He did not avoid talking about prison, moreover, he wrote a book on it. For him, I think, it was kind of therapeutic," Aliyev suggests. "At night I was re-reading our correspondence and could clearly see he knew how to live life. He was a fighter, and he fought for justice. He could be harsh with people, but at the same time, he listened and could change his point of view or apologize. He was absolutely honest in his actions and thoughts. We organized and participated in campaigns, gave lectures together and just celebrated birthdays."

From photographer to political prisoner

Before the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, Hennadiy Afanasiev was not engaged in public activities, he was a photographer, but during the military invasion, he participated in protests. Before the "referendum" in Crimea, he recorded videos in support of pro-Ukrainian movements. He personally read Vasyl Symonenko's poem Where are you now, executioners of my people?

For his activities, he was detained in Simferopol by the FSB officers. Later he was accused of preparing terrorist attacks. Along with him, Russian invaders detained other people. Russian authorities tried them in the case of the so-called Sentsov group terrorists.

At the end of May 2014, the Russian FSB website published information that Afanasiev, together with Oleg Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko and Oleksiy Chirniy, was a member of the “subversive terrorist group Right Sector" and was preparing a series of terrorist attacks in Crimea. 

Immediately after the publication, Russian federal channels showed news stories in which Afanasiev confessed that he was preparing terrorist acts and called Sentsov the leader of the group. On December 24, 2014, he was found guilty of terrorism and sentenced to 7 years in prison while serving his sentence in a strict regime colony. 

In 2015, speaking at the trial in the case of Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko as a witness for the prosecution, Afanasyev stated that he renounced his earlier testimony, as it had been given under pressure. The defendants greeted these words with applause.

As he told after his release, he was subjected to unbearable torture.

"They put on boxing gloves and beat me on the head with them to avoid bruises. It was the first day. I was taken to this temporary detention facility for the night. All 10 days while I was in this place, they did not let me sleep, eat, there was not even toilet paper, there was nothing. Just some very cold basement room.

Later, serious torture began. They would put a gas mask on your head with a hose, unscrew the bottom valve and spray it with a spray can; you start vomiting and choking on it because of the mask. When you choked, they would take off the mask, let you smell ammonia and repeat everything. They continued by connecting electric wires to the genitals and electrocuting them. If the strangulation could be withstood, this pain was unbearable. This is how they would force to sign documents. Just to put signatures, that's all," he said.

In March 2016, Ukraine requested Russia to extradite 4 convicted Ukrainians, including Hennadiy Afanasiev. On 14 June 2016, Afanasiev and convicted Yuriy Soloshenko were extradited to Ukraine.

After his return, in his speech he appealed to international journalists to tell Europe not to abandon sanctioning Russia.

"If there are foreign journalists here, I want to address you. I went through torture and pain. I ask you not to abandon the sanction process. To continue this policy. Do not cancel any (sanctions). Because thanks to you, thanks to the authorities of foreign countries we are here now," Afanasiev said.

"I want to convey to Ukrainians and Crimeans only one thing: soon Crimea will be Ukrainian"

When the full-scale invasion began, he immediately went to the Territorial Defence Forces of Kyiv. 

On March 1, he sent greetings to his mother on Facebook saying "The night is calm. There was a small battle. The enemy has losses. We are all safe. Mom, I'm wearing a hat, so I don’t get cold," he joked. Hennadiy Afanasiev explained his decision to fight for Ukraine by saying he wanted to see his country and native Crimea free.

"In short, I joined (the Armed Forces of Ukraine) to defend Ukraine. I want to convey to Ukrainians and Crimeans only one thing: soon Crimea will be Ukrainian. Ukraine will be free from occupants and invaders. We will kill them all and win," he said in a comment to Krym.Realii.

Hennadiy Afanasiev’s family includes his mother, wife and small child. Shortly before the war, he got married. From the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, defending Kyiv. He fought as part of the 130th Battalion of the 241st Brigade (Territorial Defence Forces) and died on December 21, 2022, in the Luhansk region near Bilohorivka. Now financial assistance is being raised for his family.