This week, a book by journalist Stanislav Aseev will be presented in the Kyiv art centre Izolyatsiya that moved here from occupied Donetsk. Stanislav Aseev is imprisoned by “DPR” militiamen since more than a year. The book contains essays and blogs by Stanislav that he has sent, for a period of two years, from occupied Donetsk to “Ukrains’ki Tizhden” (the Ukrainian Week) “Dzerkalo Tizhnya” (the Weekly Mirror) and “Radio Liberty”.
This dialogue was retold by the former Member of Parliament Egor Firsov, who studied together with Stanislav Aseev on the philosophical faculty of the Donetsk University of Informatics and Artificial Intelligence.
With this very dialogue, at the beginning of June 2017, began the search for information about the whereabouts of the journalist. Friends and family, as well as the editors of the newspapers for which Stanislav wrote, faced a tough choice: should they reveal who hides behind the pseudonym “Stanislav Vasin”?
Stansilav’s friend Denis Kaplunov said that Stas doesn’t answer the phone. His friends started to use his Facebook page to ask where he was.
“He answered to some of these inquiries that he got sick, that he couldn’t speak, that he was in hospital. To our questions, why he answered his Facebook but didn’t call his already desperate mother, he didn’t give an answer,” says Kaplunov.
Stanislav’s worried family, friends, and colleagues agreed on a public announcement of his disappearance. They knew that Stanislav met and corresponded with pro-Ukrainian people, who lived in the occupied part of Donbas. They feared that Stanislav’s Facebook site could be used by the separatist militiamen to trick pro-Ukrainian citizens into talking to them. Staying silent could have endangered them.
In the cell next to where Stas was held, a now freed detainee was imprisoned, Viktor, who prefers not to give his family name. He was freed during the prisoner’s exchange in December 2017. Viktor says that Stansilav Aseev was imprisoned not on June 2, but already on May 10, from which time his work was controlled by his jailors. The editor of the “Donbas Realiiy” Program at Radio Liberty Andrey Dekhtyarenko read out Viktor’s testimony during the presentation of the book.
“We were in neighbouring cells since May 10, 2017, the day they took him in. I couldn’t see his face, only his legs and his back when they led him to the toilette or the shower. Sometimes when they didn’t close the cell door but only the grate, we could talk to each other. He said that he was a journalist. He was worried all the time that no one would find out where he was. I and other prisoners were imprisoned there under our real names, he was there under an invented name.
He was arrested on May 10, 2017 on Lenin square. Sometimes they took him back to the apartment he rented and had him write under their control, up to the moment when they decided they would stage a burglary in his apartment. For his report about Yasinovata they took him there already in handcuffs.
He was tortured with electroshocks to the ears. Stas used to say that if you received such an electroshock your eyes would pop out of your head. They did this with 30 scale units and threatened to put it up to a hundred. Probably, what they meant was volts. They beat him up so badly that the entire lower part of his body was simply black.
But at times they allowed him to write. They gave him paper and pen. He wrote like a diary. When they allowed us to speak, he read to me what he had written. He wrote about himself being in this cell.
The first three days Stas could not eat. He shared the food he was given with others. He gave away his bread. Later, I suggested he’d dry the leftover bread. We were given food three times a day. It came in disposable bowls and it was extremely little. Stas refused to eat curdled milk. I told him that was stupid. Better eat this kind of food than to die of hunger here.
His jailors took away his bank card from Privat Bank and removed 10.000 UAH from it (approx. 300 Euro). They said it was for his imprisonment, for the fuel and the car that brought him to Yasinovata. Twice they bought him a burger. He was given half a kilo of sugar and a set of painkillers.
On the 2nd of June the, “DPR Ministry of State Security” already officially declared him their prisoner, when they decided not to let him meet his mother after all, although they had promised her on the telephone to arrange a meeting with her son. On the phone his mother asked that Stas would come to her. He looked at his jailors and they nodded like crazy. Then they backpedalled. One of his jailors said that he travelled to Moscow especially for him to include him in the list for the prisoner’s exchange.”
Stanislav Aseev was a student of the religion scholar Igor Kozlovskiy who was liberated after two years in detention. Kozlovskiy said that Stanislav was held in the premises of the former art-centre “Izolyatsiya” in Donetsk, where the militias have established a prison. Igor Kozlovskiy remembers that the militiamen were searching for Stas one and a half year.
“After half a year of my imprisonment, people from the “DPR Ministry of State Security” came to me and asked who from among my students stayed behind in Donetsk. I told them that they had all left. They asked me who Stas Vasin was. I told them that I didn’t know, but that I thought it was a group of authors. But they had seen that this Vasin, after he learned that I had been arrested, called on all former Students of Kozlovskiy they should leave for the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.” The professor remembers.
He thinks that the fighters were able to seek out Stanislav because in his writing, when describing life in occupied Donbas, he gradually gave up more and more details about himself. Representatives of the “DPR Ministry for State Security” told Igor Kozlovskiy that they have an audio recording of his voice, that they know how he dresses and that he lives near the “Kalmius” military unit.
The 27-year old Stanislav Aseev loves jazz and running. He has a bachelor’s degree with distinction in philosophy and a master’s degree in religious studies. He worked in some 15 different professions, was a carrier, dug out graves, worked as a vendor and in a bank.
In his essays, Stanislav described life under occupation: what people think about the occupation, how city life changed, he wrote about the roots of the conflict, what happens in the conflict zone and so on. I reached the conclusion that speaking to the militiamen he was trying to understand what drives them, where their hatred came from.
Andrey Dekhtyarenko, the editor of Donbas Realiiy, addressed the militiamen and promised that “journalists will not forget about those detained.”
“We will bring this issue to the attention of the international community” he promised. He also called on journalist to write about Stanislav Aseev, to read his book and to discuss it in their writing and on social media.
The ambassador of the United States in Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, said she would make use of all means to free Stanislav Aseev.
Despite all its efforts, the Ukrainian government did not succeed in freeing to Stanislav last December together with other detainees. His name did not occur in the list for reasons unknown. This was announced by Iryna Herashchenko, a member of parliament for BPP and a member of the humanitarian subgroup of the tripartite contact group of the Minsk negotiation.
Herashchenko called on all of Ukraine’s international partners to demand from the illegal armed groups that they grant their political prisoners the right to send and receive mail as well as to make phone calls. Herashchenko says that the ICCR in four years of warfare has not visited once the illegal places of detention in the occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine.
She announced that Ukraine is ready to hand over to Russia 23 sentenced Russians who committed “subversive acts, terrorist attacks, or have publically called into question the territorial integrity of Ukraine” in order to free DPR’s prisoners, including Stanislav Aseev. In her words, the militias of Eastern Ukraine confirm that they hold 20 citizens of Ukraine as prisoners. This means that there must be dozens of disappeared people.
A copy of “In Isolation” one can get for free in the Izolyatsiya art centre after making an order via private message on the site of Donbas Realiiy.
In the meantime, Stanislav’s friend, Egor Firsov, dreams of the day when he can call Stanislav’s mum in high spirits:
-Hello, this is Egor Firsov. You probably already know that the exchange has taken place.
-Yes of course. Is everything alright?
-Yes, everything is alright, Stas is free, ill hand him the phone.
On October 2 at 16:00 in Poltava Art Museum human rights defenders presented the publication "City, where the war had started" about...
On October 2 at 16:00 in Poltava Art Museum human rights defenders presented the publication "City, where the war had started" about human rights violations that took place during the occupation of Sloviansk from April 12, 2014 to July 5, 2014. The presentation was attended by former detainees and victims of the war in the Donbas, IDPs, media and representatives of the cultural sphere.
The speakers of the presentation were:
The seizure of Sloviansk by illegal armed formations was possible due to the inaction of local authorities and local law enforcement agencies. “Our task as human rights defenders is to remind the public about the crimes and the persons responsible for them. We cannot but say that the local authorities were not responsible for the events of 2014 in the city. Unfortunately, we do not see any progress in the investigations. Moreover, some of the politicians, who participated in the events of the "Russian spring", are aiming for the positions in local power," - stressed Anton Udovenko.
Andrii Moskalenko spoke about the functioning of illegal prisons and human trafficking during the occupation of the city. "Civilians were very often transferred between illegal groups that forced detainees to dig trenches during shelling. In fact, people turned into some kind of goods," - said the lawyer. "We also worked on the part about mining and, I must note, the illegal formations mined virtually everything in Sloviansk: schools, the city council, the building of the SBU, thereby endangering the lives of innocent people."
Hanna Kurovska worked on a section about children and adolescents and their experience during the occupation of the city. She also mentioned the cases of involving minors in illegal armed groups. "Therefore, the upbringing of children needs special attention. Unfortunately, many respondents noted the intensified militarization of young people, which took place during the occupation of the city and is ongoing in the self-proclaimed republics."
"Everyone`s story is special, and our task is to preserve it and present to the public in order to rethink the traumatic experience that innocent people went through in 2014," - said Maria Biliakova. "In the process of documenting, we saw several ways how people can work on reconciliation. The basis for it is the ability to listen to the opinion of another, grassroots initiatives and respect for human life and dignity. That is why the volunteers had a high level of trust right after the release of the city".
Former prisoner of the "DPR" Iryna Boiko testified during the presentation about what she saw while being held in one of the illegal prisons. "The locals were thrown into the basement for 15 days. They said either you pay a huge "fine", or you join us, or we will kill you. And, of course, many went to illegal formations in order to survive. And I have to say that these people deserve to be forgiven ", - said Iryna Boiko. "I also saw many children, these were teenagers of 14-17 years old, who settled at the prosecutor's office. I heard how they were brainwashed. It was a very strong pressure on the child's psyche".
Facebook translation of the event: https://www.facebook.com/jfp.org/videos/1030542370717977/
The publication "City, where the war had started" was prepared by the Eastern Ukrainian Center of Civic Initiatives, the CF "Vostok SOS", the Human Rights Center for Public Research, Moloda Prosvita Prykarpattya, the Public Committee for the Protection of Constitutional Rights and Freedoms of Citizens, which are members of the Coalition Justice for Peace in Donbass ”, supported by Kurve Wustrow - Center for Training and Networking in Nonviolent Action within the framework of the Civil Peace Service program funded by the German Federal Government.
On October 2 at 16:00 in Poltava Art Museum human rights defenders will present the publication "City, where the war had started" ab...
On October 2 at 16:00 in Poltava Art Museum human rights defenders will present the publication "City, where the war had started" about human rights violations that took place during the occupation of Sloviansk from April 12, 2014 to July 5, 2014.
Sloviansk became not just a city where the war in the East of Ukraine had begun - the events in the city became a role model for seizure of other cities of Donbas. During the presentation, human rights defenders will discuss civilians survived and adapted to life under occupation, the activities of illegal armed formations controlled by the Russian Federation, and the direct commander Igor Girkin; persecution of residents for their religious beliefs; involvement of minors in illegal armed groups; problems of shelling and mining of civilian infrastructure. Also, the authors of the publication will highlight the issue of pro-Russian propaganda in the city and the problem of finding ways of reconciliation in society after the restoration of government control over Sloviansk.
The Coalition members are going to explain why the experience of Sloviansk is so important for understanding the war and reconciliation processes in the East of Ukraine:
The presentation will be broadcasted on the page of Coalition "Justice for Peace in Donbas".
For any questions regarding organization, please contact Iryna Boiko: +380503051284.
The event will be organized in compliance with all anti-epidemic recommendations of the Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
The publication "City, where the war had started" was prepared by the Eastern Ukrainian Center of Civic Initiatives, the CF "Vostok SOS", the Human Rights Center for Public Research, Moloda Prosvita Prykarpattya, the Public Committee for the Protection of Constitutional Rights and Freedoms of Citizens, which are members of the Coalition Justice for Peace in Donbass ”, supported by Kurve Wustrow - Center for Training and Networking in Nonviolent Action within the framework of the Civil Peace Service program funded by the German Federal Government.
Interactive exhibition of testimonies "On the Rift" about the violation of rights of civilians during the war in Donbas was presente...
Interactive exhibition of testimonies "On the Rift" about the violation of rights of civilians during the war in Donbas was presented to public on September 17 at 15:00 in the Regional Universal Scientific Library in Khmelnytsky. It is the 12th city where the exhibition is being shown. Among the guests of the presentation were representatives of public organizations, former detainess and witnesses of the war from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, volunteers, and representatives of culture and media.
"On the Rift" reveals the essence of the changes that the civilian population faced in 2014 on 14 stands, and 5 of the are interactive. The last stand "What do we have in common?" works also as an interactive review book, where the viewer has the opportunity to leave a comment about the exhibition.
"We chose the name "On the Rift" because it clearly shows the irreversibility of changes that have taken place in people's lives because of the chaos created by "L / DPR" illegal formations. Key themes are human fear, family separation, atomization of society, uncertainty, despair, horror experienced by prisoners, sexual and gender-based violence in illegal prisons in Donbas. We demonstrate thorough research the answers to the questions: “When have the war started?”, “What is restoration of justice for you?", - noted Anton Udovenko, project manager of the Eastern Ukrainian Center for Civic Initiatives.
The exhibition "On the Rift" was also created as a discussion platform for discussing the problems of war victims. “We can once again be convinced that art can serve as a tool for change when there is strong polarization in society. Thanks to the testimonies of these people who are mentioned in the exhibition, we can feel their stories and understand the severity of the challenges they have faced because of war. This is an exhibition of empathy. It shows that it is worth learning to understand each other in order to prevent events like in 2014," - said Olga Bauer, head of the NGO "Eco-Culture," local co-organizer of the exhibition.
Former prisoners and witnesses of hostilities in the East of Ukraine also had the opportunity to speak: Halyna Haiova, who was a prisoner of the illegal prison "Izolyatsia" for 16 months, and Kateryna Kramskova, an IDP and the wife of a militaryman who witnessed the seizure of Luhansk.
During the presentation, between the participants arose a discussion regarding the vision of reintegration of the occupied territories. Some of those present underlines impossibility of reintagration in the future.
"How could you say that we need to clear that territory? People live there, it is devoid of respect for them", - noted Ivan, a former resident of Luhansk.
"There are still people in Luhansk, who support Ukraine. They hung yellow and blue T-shirts alongside on Flag Day to show their position. Don't forget about it", - noted Anastasia, also a former resident of Luhansk, head of the local Center for Tolerance.
Facebook translation of the event: https://www.facebook.com/jfp.org/videos/338672117469868
The presentation and creation of the exhibition "On the Rift" was possible within the framework of the project "Empowering Civil Society to Transform the Culture of Memory - Nonviolent Ways to Resolve the Cruel Past of Donbas", implemented by public organizations Kurve Wustrow (Germany) and Eastern Ukrainian Center for Civic Initiatives (Ukraine) together with NGO "Eco-Culture" and partners supported by the German Federal Government.
The Secretariat of the Coalition «Justice for Peace in Donbas»
