A Ukrainian aid worker recounted the terrifying moments he experienced during his three-month detention by the Russian army in Ukraine.
On Thursday, the US Senate Joint Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe heard that Tyra Byfska, a Ukrainian aid worker, was arrested by the Russian military last March while working to rescue the wounded.
Bioska recounted the horrific scenes she witnessed during the capture and torture of Ukrainians, men and women, civilians and soldiers by the Russian army.
“For the first 20 days of the war, I lived in Mariupol, and it was hell,” said Bioska. After that, I spent three months in Russian captivity, and it was hell.”
“When I was in captivity, I was tortured and they tried to force me to confess to crimes that I had not committed before,” he added.
He noted that the Russians “didn’t care about knowing the truth … they just wanted me to confess to a crime I never committed.”
Biowska also provided details of the Russian treatment of some of the prisoners who were with him, describing situations that appeared to violate the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Civilians.
“Prisoners in the cells were screaming for weeks of torture and lack of medical help,” Bauska told lawmakers.
He noted that, for example, “there was a fighter who was beaten for three hours and then thrown in the basement like a plastic bag, and after about 24 hours someone came to check on him.
He also spoke about the clear signs of rape of women during captivity and the death of children there and added: I saw a dead child in his mother’s arms and I saw another seven-year-old boy who was shot and I was dying in my arms. “
The Ukrainian aid worker thanked the US Congress for the US aid to Ukraine and called for more military aid to defeat Russia and achieve victory, and called for Russia to be placed on the list of countries supporting terrorism.
Source: Lebanon Debate
