Olena Tkachenko hastily left Luhansk in 2014, when illegal armed formations of “LPR” illegally arrested her husband. She continue to reflect on what caused the occupation of her city. Olena believes in kindness, but understands that war, as often happens, levels this bright side of human nature.
«I think that people are generally kind in our world, but this [occupation of Luhansk] was planned earlier from January, we did not understant that at that time». In winter she noticed that men of military outlook appeared on the city streets, however, they were in casual clothes. Olena three times has been a witness of the scenes like from spy films. A man came to the clothing store, bought a full set of clothes, changed in a booth, and left old clothes in a cell.
Olena noticed that political confrontation among the city residents intensified, while communicating with clients in April 2014. A polarization appeared as people started to think, who is on "our" side and who is not. One of her customers admitted that she had carried food to the people who seized and hold SBU building:
I remember I was petrified. I looked at her and cried out: "How could you say that they are "ours"?"
Another [client] said, “These are our guys! Our guys will come ... ” I had met many strange people around the city. You could easily notice that they were strangers, even they did not look like our people..
Pro-Russian rally the day before the seizure of SBU building. Luhansk, 2014. Photo: Roman Pilipey / EPA
Olena Tkachenko's inner circle - her family, most of her neighbors - supported the integrity of Ukraine and had a negative attitude towards the pro-Russian movements in the city.
Me and other people did not even have a thought that an armed conflict could start. Everyone supported Ukraine, and everyone wanted to stay in Ukraine. When it had come to the "referendum," everyone said that it made no sense. You should not ask us - we knew who we were with.
At the end of May, Olena's husband was seized by illegal armed formations at a checkpoint near the town of Shchastia: he was returning from a business trip to Luhansk. Olena did not find out immediately about the illegal arrest of her husband:
When they took them away, I noticed that information immediately appeared on TV and on the Internet. I was at work, I didn’t see it, but in the morning ... Probably three neighbors called me. People who knew my husband asked: "Why they took him?" Well, it is because he is a patriot of Ukraine.
During the next three days, while her husband was in the captured SBU building, Olena Tkachenko had been living in anxiety and anticipation of any news. Olena turned for help to a family friend, who had influence in the city. She expected that he could somehow negotiate with illegal armed formations. However, he came up with negative reply. "Family friend" even said that Tkachenko was a traitor: "He spied for Ukraine!"
The building of the captured SBU, 2014. Photo: AP Photo
Representatives of "LNR" invited her to the seized SBU building three days later - they decided to release her husband. He was handed over at night, so no one would see his injuries. They released him on one term that he would receive medical treatment at home and would return to them afterwards. After that, Tkachenko would be released in front of TV cameras so the local and Russian media would shoot a story about respect for human rights in the "republic". The woman was forbidden to go to the hospital not to leave evidence of torture that her husband suffered during illegal detention.
Despite this prohibition, Olena decided to go to the hospital - her husband's body looked like one big bruise. He suffered from a concussion, burns and multiple hematomas. Olena had no idea how such injuries could be healed without medical assistance “at home”.
At the hospital, Olena warned the doctor that she had specially registered her husband under a different name and surname - she added that she had reasons for this. He appointed an examination and seemed to agree to help. Olena's husband began a tomogram of the head and an ultrasound of the internal organs. After being tortured in the SBU building, he could barely keep his feet - it was extremely difficult for him to move between hospital rooms.
Olena recalled how the nurse was horrified when she gave the man a tomogram. It seemed that for the first time the doctors had seen a person with so much injuries.
After the examination, Olena was waiting for a doctor's appointment, who did not appear for a long time. The nurses said at first that the doctor was not on there; then - that he was in the staff room. When he came, Olena began to complain that her husband had not received timely assistance. However, the doctor's reaction was unexpected: “Why did you deceive me!” He exclaimed and pronounced the real name and surname of her husband.
At that moment, my worldview turned upside down. I am a generous person, but for the first time in my life I wanted to physically harm [the other] person. [...] It became clear to me why he did it, because he was just waiting for them. He called "LNR" forces from where the husband had just been released.
Olena and her husband hastly left the hospital. She contacted her friends and asked them to arrive as soon as possible. The same evening they took off to Kyiv by night train, without even saying goodbye to their relatives.
Olena is still trying to understand the motives of those residents of Luhansk, who turned her family into exiles. She could not believe that so many supporters of Soviet revenge had appeared in the city: “Does everyone really like walking in the same [dress]? Does everyone like to live in an environment, where someone always decides for you, and you have no vote at all?"
Elena still believe that kindness is an integral part of human nature. At the same time, it is difficult for her to understand how war and hatred plunged her city into twilight, and how everything good turned out to be under the yoke of lawlessness and anger.
Perhaps I need to learn to be angry, but I don't want to. I don’t want to be [evil] ... I believe that the majority of people are still generous. However, kindness does not always overcome hatred, I guess.
Article image: photo by blogger Fashik Donetskiy
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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»
