They tried to convince that Ukrainians and Russians are fraternal nations: Kremlin prisoner recalls how he was jailed in Russia

In order to survive and not to succumb to the orders of the Russians, he cut his veins in the cell and cut open his stomach. He says that he managed not to break because he is a political prisoner in his generation - his grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather also suffered repressions from the NKVD.  He admits that such family memory formed a certain immunity.

He returned from captivity in May 2015. Since then, he has been engaged in human rights activities, cooperated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the release of political prisoners, was an adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and an adviser to the head of the Lviv Regional State Administration. Now he is working on his dream job - creating a cultural and educational space based on the ideas of Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky.

"In the Russian prison I read the Prayer for God's wisdom by Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky and prayed a lot. This prayer inspired me. After my release, I began to study the Metropolitan's thoughts more and really wanted to do such a project," Yuriy Yatsenko recalls.

Espreso talked to the Kremlin prisoner and asked what gave him the strength to survive and continue living.

"They threatened that I would be tied on Kadyrov’s leash like a dog"

He never thought about the fact that he could be imprisoned, although he had an understanding of what kind of neighbour lived next door. During the Revolution of Dignity, he actively participated in the protests as a medical volunteer, and therefore was hardened and ready for different developments.

In May 2014, Yuriy Yatsenko, then a 5th year student of the Faculty of Law, together with a friend went to Russia on private business. The border was crossed officially, according to all requirements. But when they checked into the hotel, the police immediately came to them.

"They took us out of the hotel room, they said, to check our documents. And then they handed us over to the FSB intelligence. As we have already guessed, they had a task to take Ukrainians to create an image of the enemy. I was offered that I would be paid for such "work", as I am able to express my opinion well and tell that I was sent by Ukraine to carry out anti-Russian activities," says Yatsenko.

The interrogations began when the FSB took over the case. They wanted to persuade me to cooperate with them.

“They brought me to the FSB office in the Kursk region and tried to convince me that Ukrainians and Russians are fraternal peoples, so we should help each other.”

"I showed with all my being that I was not interested in this and then the intimidation started. They said that they could imprison me, plant drugs, that is, they used various nuances, including beatings. They even threatened to give me to Kadyrov. They said that I would be tied to him like a dog full of drugs", the man adds.

At first, he was taken to the FSB office in the Kursk region and tried to convince that Ukrainians and Russians are fraternal peoples, so they should help each other. Yuriy Yatsenko categorically refused to help and soon the torture began.

"When I refused, they said "take him away, work with him". They put me in a van and took me to some forest. I could hear that there were mosquitoes, and the leaves were rustling. They hung me by a hook on handcuffs, put a bag on my head and beat me - in the groin, stomach. And they tortured me like that for several hours. The next day it all had to continue, because I did not give them an answer, and they had to beat a confession out of me as soon as possible. That night I slit my veins and cut my stomach to get to the hospital and not to sign any documents", the political prisoner admits.

He says that it was not an emotional decision, but rather a strategic one.

"It was a move to exsanguinate my body in order to get to the hospital, but not to die in such a way, and so that I could not be tortured. Thus, I won time and showed myself unstable, so to speak, portrayed a man in despair. At that time I could not think of anything better and, by the way, I still believe that such a decision was the right and most important in my life," he adds.

Now the result of these events no longer affects Yuriy Yatsenko's health. He says he feels fine, the only thing that reminds of those events is a scar on his forearm.

For five years he studied human rights and found himself like in a movie where no rights exist

He says that at that time the release of political prisoners from Russian captivity was not so actively pursued, and he was the first successful case of the Center for Civil Liberties. This organization was one of the first to start building legal protection of prisoners held by the Kremlin.

It should be noted that this year the Center for Civil Liberties received the Nobel Peace Prize.

"After the release, I immediately went with them around the world to various institutions and parliaments to meet with politicians and diplomats to form a pool of support for Ukrainians and Ukrainian political prisoners," says Yatsenko.

He says that in captivity he thought a lot and was most concerned about why international human rights systems did not act in his case.

“There is a war between totalitarianisms that say you can only be protected by brute force and armies that you will obey; and democracies that say there must be law.”

"I studied human rights for five years and found myself like in a movie where no rights exist and I was taught fairy tales. There I realized that the law may not work for certain reasons. And now this law is not valid for millions of Ukrainians. It has called into question whether international human rights guarantees and international security systems really exist. There is a war going on between totalitarianisms that say you can only be protected by brute force and armies that you will obey; and democracies that say there must be law. Only then will nations prosper and there will be international security. Because now, when everyone has nuclear weapons, we can simply destroy the world. I also thought about this in prison," says Yatsenko.

Now Yuriy's younger brother is defending Ukrainian land from Moscow barbarians, five cousins also volunteered for the army. And he asks himself a number of questions: what we, Ukrainians, did wrong to allow such victims and what we should do differently to prevent this from happening to our children.

"In the captivity of the Russians, I imagined myself involved in the stories of other political prisoners, which I studied in high school - Levko Lukyanenko, Vasyl Stus, Myroslav Marynovych and others. I remembered these stories and understood how much they became great figures after serving political imprisonment, both for Ukraine and for themselves. It also inspired me," he recalls.

Yuriy Yatsenko adds that he would like to advise current political prisoners to treat themselves with love and respect. And also to have an understanding of why their daily sacrifice is not in vain. And to remember that there is a daily struggle for them in Ukraine.

In 2018, a short documentary film Strong in Spirit was premiered, which tells the story of Yuriy Yatsenko's imprisonment in the Russian Federation

• Day of Ukrainian Political Prisoner: commemorated for half a century, still relevant today