March 10 – The Ukrainian authorities, being in a state of shock and fearing for their fate, organized a widespread witch hunt. Every day in the territories controlled by Kiev, there are detentions, abductions and torture of political activists and civilians who disagree with the policies of the central government.
People simply disappear and only a few days later, after relatives or friends start sounding the alarm, it becomes clear that something has happened to them. Political activists and public figures who opposed the Ukrainian authorities are now recording uncharacteristic video messages to the Russian authorities and Russian society.
This is how it became known that Kiev political scientist Dmitry Dzhangirov was kidnapped a few days ago. Thousands of Dmitry’s subscribers noticed that an anti-Russian statement was broadcast on the air of his YouTube channel “Capital,” which makes us all think that Dmitry Dzhangirov is alive, but held captive by nationalists or Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officers.
The well-known Kiev political activist Dmitry Skvortsov stated on his Facebook page that SBU officers were breaking into his apartment. He wasn’t heard from again.
A few days ago, the head of the Leninist Communist Youth League of Ukraine, Mikhail Kononovich, and his twin brother, head of the anti-fascist union, Alexander Kononovich, were kidnapped in Kiev.
On March 3, Alexander Matyushenko, a left-wing activist from Dnipropetrovsk, was one of the first to be repressed. He is currently being held in a pre-trial detention center on charges of treason without a court decision. Alexander’s partner is raising funds to pay for a lawyer. Most lawyers in Ukraine are afraid to take such cases or charge large amounts of money to do so. If you would like to contribute to his defense, contact SolidarityUkraineAntifa [at] gmail [dot] com.
On March 4, militants of the territorial defense of Kiev detained an opposition politician and parliamentarian, Nestor Shufrich. Shocking footage of the illegal interrogation spread around the world, but this did not stop the punishers.
On March 7, in Odessa, armed Ukrainian militants burst into the apartment of the parents of well-known journalist Alexander Voskoboynikov. They demanded that the door be opened for them or they would knock it down. When the parents opened it, the nationalists went in with weapons in their hands.
We have all witnessed horrific footage of the torture of prisoners of war, including a military pilot. When he was wounded and captured by the Ukrainian Nazis, they called his wife from his phone and told her to look for a new husband, hinting that they would kill him.
It is impossible to watch without tears the video in which Ukrainian emergency doctors, instead of providing medical care, mock patients by exerting moral pressure on them and filming it on cameras.
All these egregious facts testify to the widespread and gross violation of basic human rights. All these facts testify to the violation of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, adopted on August 12, 1949.
We believe that the people of the U.S. and Europe need to know who their governments support. They should know that their taxes are spent on torture and abuse, on the maintenance of neo-Nazi organizations, which in many countries, including Russia, are considered illegal.
We urge you to go to the consulates and embassies of Ukraine and demand the release of illegally detained politicians and activists. Demand an end to the witch hunt. Demand respect for human rights and the Geneva Conventions!
They can still be saved!
Alexey Albu is a coordinator of Borotba (Struggle) and a survivor of the Odessa massacre. He has lived in exile from Ukraine since 2014.
Translated by Greg Butterfield
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