In late February 2015, Vyacheslav Shvyryov, unit commander of 13th battalion Chernihiv-1, was captured near Debaltseve. He was leaving Debaltseve kettle with a group of other military men when they encountered a separatist checkpoint in the dark. To distract attention from his group, he decided to come before the enemy on his own. He found out later that it actually helped save the group.

At the checkpoint, Vyacheslav was tied by the Cossacks of the Almighty Don Army. Being unsure about what to do with the prisoner, they first took him to Debaltseve, to another village near Horlivka, and to Shakhtarsk. In Shakhtarsk, Shvyryov was interrogated by the Russian FSB colonel who openly showed his ID. Questions were purely formal as, apparently, Russians were well aware of the positions of Ukrainian army near Debaltseve. In particular, Shvyryov saw a map that had been definitely transferred from the Ukrainian Headquarters.

They had information that you can't simply get using a drone. They had all identified fire positions for Debaltseve. They played games with us for a month, and in the end were aiming at one point after another. In fact, he was not really interested in anything of essence. He just wanted to know about the guys’ moral state, relation between units, voluntary battalions and the army. They were searching for a weak link.

Cossack basement

Finally, Shvyryov was taken to the base of Don Cossacks in Donetsk. It was located in the former Nova Poshta office at 66 Travneva Street.

The new prisoner was taken for interrogation, as custom dictates. However, since there was nothing to interrogate him about, it quickly turned into beating. It turned out later that it was only a 'welcome’ beating.

Vyacheslav was thrown 'into the basement’, an improvised cell that used to be a shower room. There are 10 men already in the cell, all of them - Ukrainian military men captured near Debaltseve.

There were no windows or furniture in the basement. There were only pallets for prisoners to lie on and a bucket used as a toilet. The lights were always on (Shvyryov remembers not being able to sleep with the lights off ft a whole after leaving the basement). There was some air coming through the cracks in the wall where the door and the vent were boarded up. Prisoners were left there for months, and there entire living space was within these walls. They brought food three times a day simply throwing a bag with porridge in the corner of the cell. There was a surveillance camera over the door. Crossing the line and approaching the door was strictly forbidden and could lead to being shot on the spot.  

The zoo

The fun started after midnight. It felt like we were in a zoo. Everyone came to see us. I spent two months in this basement in Donetsk, until 21 April, and saw the entire geography of who is fighting on their side. The visitors included people from Vostok and Prizrak battalions, Russians, Chechens, Ossetians, and Oplot. Everyone considered it his duty to just beat us. We would get up, they would walk clockwise and started using their buttstocks.

According to the prisoner, the first five to seven days were the hardest since the 'militiamen’ were still interested in the new toy. During his imprisonment by the Cossacks, he had seven ribs broken and collarbone displaced, as well as multiple hematomas and bruises. Shvyryov remembers that the most difficult thing was the Cossack whip. It had a 'twist’ - two middle whips had a heavy lid ball attached. Nobody could handle more than 5 hits. Vyacheslav lost consciousness on the fifth hit even though they were hitting him with his jacket on.

Most often, prisoners were hit in the face with buttstocks, pallets, and stabbed with knives. Sometimes, they came into the room and started shooting:

They could shoot in the basement itself to see if the 5.45 gets anyone as it ricochets. Thank God, it got stuck somewhere. Some just came in and started shooting at the floor.

On 22 February, he was taken for an execution along with other prisoners. Often mock executions are limited to intimidation (taking outside and bringing back). However, the Cossacks put them against the wall and fired a round above their heads.

Other methods of torture included drowning in the pool and attaching wires of the military telephone to genitalia. The cossacks also held ‘PE classes’ - they would come at night and make people do push ups. The prisoners with injured backs and broken bones were forced to do it at a gunpoint. People couldn't get up after these exercises.

On 8 March, the cossacks decided to entertain themselves by dressing the prisoners in women's clothes and pointing arms at them to make them dance. However, a commander came into the cell and stopped it.
In mid-April, a married couple, a woman from Donetsk and her Spanish husband, were thrown to the basement. They were detained during curfew hours; their car was taken. When the woman used the bucket, men tried to look away. They also took her for interrogation but, evidently, did not beat her. She came back in tears but did not tell anything.

Psychological condition of prisoners gradually deteriorated. To distract themselves, they discussed culinary recipes with enthusiasm.

You can imagine 10 people who had been through hell are seriously discussing recipes, what they can cook. And everyone joined this conversation. A person was almost killed, half his bones are broken, all internal organs are smashed, and he is thinking of a cake he would make for his wife when he's out.

'Pray to your fascist gods’

With the assistance of Afghanistan veterans union in Luhansk, Shvyryov was transferred from Donetsk to the military commander's office in Luhansk. He stayed there from 21 April until 10 July.

According to other people interviewed by the Coalition 'Justice for Peace in Donbas’, the basement had no proper facilities for accommodating people, however, in comparison to detention by the cossacks, it seemed like a significantly better place to Shvyryov. At the very least, prisoners were not subjected to physical violence. Military commander Serhiy Hrachov, a convinced separatist, did not approve of treating prisoners like cattle.

SEE ALSO:  Prisons and torture houses of Luhansk: Zhovtneva district council

On 10 July, Vyacheslav Shvyryov and other prisoners were taken for exchange near Shchastya. Before that, some 'general’ had told prisoners they would be exchanged and added, 'Pray to your fascist gods’. Before the exchange, prisoners were interviewed by Russian TV. Prisoners told them general things on camera, without going into details.

At home, Shvyryov read online about the special operation led by the 'LPR’ head Plotnysky on 7 May. The base of the Almighty Don Army at Travneva Street was 'cleansed’, and part of the cossacks was possibly killed or arrested. However, the fate of some prisoners in that basement is still unknown.

After his release, the former prisoner of war did not receive any medical or psychological help, and he went to the doctors on his own. In addition, he tried for months to get his salary, who's was withheld for the five months in captivity.

As a former prisoner, Vyacheslav Shvyryov is convinced that Ukraine has to negotiate with the separatists and exchange its people at any cost. Hundreds of military personnel and civilians are still on 'the other side’ in unbearable conditions, similar to those he had experienced.

Officer Shvyryov described the madness of captivity to the Don cossacks in Donetsk

Vyacheslav Shvyryov, unit commander of 13th battalion Chernihiv-1, was captured near Debaltseve by the cossacks of the Almighty Don Army and spent five months in captivity.