Mykhailo Khvostik and Petro Tsarevsky were arrested in the “LDNR.” The occupiers accuse them of terrorism.
Source: SVOI CITY
Author: Hanna KURTSANOVSKA
My grandfather has diabetes. He could face up to 10 years
in prison
When Russia’s war against Ukraine began in 2014, farmer Petro Tsarevsky joined the “Starobilsk Self-Defense” organization, which became part of the “Aidar” battalion in May of that same year. Thanks to these volunteers, the Ukrainian flag once again flew over the administration building, replacing the flag of the self-proclaimed “LPR.”
According to Natalia, before the full-scale invasion, her grandfather and grandmother lived peacefully in the village of Chmyrivka, a suburb of Starobilsk. After the city was occupied, the elderly man—who has a Group III disability—experienced a sharp decline in his health; he began having heart pain. In March 2022, Petro Fedorovych was abducted from his own home by unknown individuals in military uniforms. His wife witnessed this act of violence.
“My grandmother said that on that day, about a dozen armed men in military uniforms burst into their home and said they were looking for Petro Fedorovych. They found Grandpa in bed—he wasn’t feeling well. They shoved him; Grandma tried to shield her husband with her body, but Grandpa didn’t resist because he was afraid they would hurt his wife. The unknown men dragged my grandfather out onto the street. They shoved him into the car just as he was. At the same time, several people searched the house and took his personal documents with them.”
The woman immediately went to Starobilsk, trying to find out where her husband had been taken and why. She went to the police station, the prosecutor’s office, and the local pretrial detention center, but everywhere she was told, “We don’t have such a person here, and we have nothing to do with this.”
“Some officials even laughed and said, ‘If they took him, it must have been for a reason.’” We knew nothing about Grandpa for almost two months. By the end of April, an investigator came to Grandma’s house to conduct a search and informed her that Grandpa was being held in a pretrial detention center in Luhansk.
He is charged with participating in a terrorist organization, based on the fact that in 2014, my grandfather was a member of the “Starobilsk Self-Defense”
organization. “There were repeated searches of the house even after that; various people kept coming by, demanding that my grandmother hand over a military uniform, military decorations, and some documents related to the organization.”
His granddaughter says that as soon as her grandmother found out her husband was in Luhansk, she went there the very next day, but she was unable to meet with the investigator. The pretrial detention center only confirmed that Petro Fedorovich Tsarevsky is indeed being held there. He periodically receives care packages from his wife; first and foremost, she brought him medicine and warm clothing.
“Almost a year has passed, and nothing has changed. We were only told that a court hearing was scheduled for March 13 at the Military District Court in Rostov. But so far, the trial hasn’t taken place; the hearings keep getting postponed because they can’t get my grandfather to Rostov. We learned from the lawyer on duty that my grandfather has problems with his blood pressure and heart. On top of that, he’s now also been diagnosed with diabetes.”
The woman has not been able to see her husband even once in a year, so we can only guess at the conditions under which he is being held in pretrial detention.
“We have filed petitions with all relevant state and international bodies, but so far the situation remains unchanged. My grandfather remains behind bars; according to the article under which he was charged, he faces 5 to 10 years in prison.”
My brother was arrested nearly 6 years ago. He is being tortured
Mykhailo Khvostyk, 36, is being held captive in the “DPR.” He lived with his family in Verkhniotoretske, Yasinuvata District, Donetsk Oblast.
When the war began in 2014, the village was located in territory controlled by Ukrainian authorities on the front lines.
Galina Khvostik says that before the occupation, her brother worked at the Zasyadko Mine in Donetsk in a regular blue-collar position. After the fighting at the Donetsk airport, Mykhailo opened a small shop in the village where he lived.
“On June 18, 2017, my brother went to visit relatives in Donetsk. At that time, it was possible to drive into the city through our village. Residents registered in Verkhniotoretsk were allowed to travel to the occupied territory through the checkpoint, meaning he did not violate Ukrainian law by entering the occupied territory.”
Mykhailo Khvostik has not returned home since then. His family began searching for him and later learned that he had been detained by officers of the “Department for Combating Organized Crime of the ‘DPR’ Ministry of Internal Affairs” on charges of espionage and aiding and abetting employees of the Security Service of Ukraine.
“We later learned that Mykhailo was being held in Detention Center No. 5 in Donetsk and that he was being tortured. We know that he was given a choice—torture or cutting his own arms. His arms are cut and stitched up. Later, our parents received threats and demands to pay a ransom for Mykhailo from the occupied territory. Seeing his suffering, we raised money several times and traveled to Donetsk to free our brother, but they took our money and did not release Mykhailo.”
In total, they took about 60,000 dollars from us. This includes visits at the detention center, which cost a thousand dollars each
. It even got to the point where Mykhailo’s family was called and asked to come pick him up, and then, right in front of our father, they put a bag over his head and took him away to an unknown destination. And then the search began again. And again, the demands for money.
“And when his father said there was no money, the threats of violence against his mother and father began. His mother was barred from entering the territory of the ‘DPR’ and was threatened at a checkpoint with being shot if she came back to look for her son.”
It is currently known that the “Supreme Court of the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’” convicted Mykhailo Khvostik under Articles 233 (participation in a terrorist organization) and 321 (espionage) of the “DPR” Criminal Code. It handed down a sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment to be served in a general-regime penal colony.
“My brother is currently in Correctional Colony No. 28, located in Torez. They continue to mistreat him there as well.”
Author: Hanna KURTSANOVSKA
My grandfather has diabetes. He could face up to 10 years
in prison
When Russia’s war against Ukraine began in 2014, farmer Petro Tsarevsky joined the “Starobilsk Self-Defense” organization, which became part of the “Aidar” battalion in May of that same year. Thanks to these volunteers, the Ukrainian flag once again flew over the administration building, replacing the flag of the self-proclaimed “LPR.”
According to Natalia, before the full-scale invasion, her grandfather and grandmother lived peacefully in the village of Chmyrivka, a suburb of Starobilsk. After the city was occupied, the elderly man—who has a Group III disability—experienced a sharp decline in his health; he began having heart pain. In March 2022, Petro Fedorovych was abducted from his own home by unknown individuals in military uniforms. His wife witnessed this act of violence.
“My grandmother said that on that day, about a dozen armed men in military uniforms burst into their home and said they were looking for Petro Fedorovych. They found Grandpa in bed—he wasn’t feeling well. They shoved him; Grandma tried to shield her husband with her body, but Grandpa didn’t resist because he was afraid they would hurt his wife. The unknown men dragged my grandfather out onto the street. They shoved him into the car just as he was. At the same time, several people searched the house and took his personal documents with them.”
The woman immediately went to Starobilsk, trying to find out where her husband had been taken and why. She went to the police station, the prosecutor’s office, and the local pretrial detention center, but everywhere she was told, “We don’t have such a person here, and we have nothing to do with this.”
“Some officials even laughed and said, ‘If they took him, it must have been for a reason.’” We knew nothing about Grandpa for almost two months. By the end of April, an investigator came to Grandma’s house to conduct a search and informed her that Grandpa was being held in a pretrial detention center in Luhansk.
He is charged with participating in a terrorist organization, based on the fact that in 2014, my grandfather was a member of the “Starobilsk Self-Defense”
organization. “There were repeated searches of the house even after that; various people kept coming by, demanding that my grandmother hand over a military uniform, military decorations, and some documents related to the organization.”
His granddaughter says that as soon as her grandmother found out her husband was in Luhansk, she went there the very next day, but she was unable to meet with the investigator. The pretrial detention center only confirmed that Petro Fedorovich Tsarevsky is indeed being held there. He periodically receives care packages from his wife; first and foremost, she brought him medicine and warm clothing.
“Almost a year has passed, and nothing has changed. We were only told that a court hearing was scheduled for March 13 at the Military District Court in Rostov. But so far, the trial hasn’t taken place; the hearings keep getting postponed because they can’t get my grandfather to Rostov. We learned from the lawyer on duty that my grandfather has problems with his blood pressure and heart. On top of that, he’s now also been diagnosed with diabetes.”
The woman has not been able to see her husband even once in a year, so we can only guess at the conditions under which he is being held in pretrial detention.
“We have filed petitions with all relevant state and international bodies, but so far the situation remains unchanged. My grandfather remains behind bars; according to the article under which he was charged, he faces 5 to 10 years in prison.”
My brother was arrested nearly 6 years ago. He is being tortured
Mykhailo Khvostyk, 36, is being held captive in the “DPR.” He lived with his family in Verkhniotoretske, Yasinuvata District, Donetsk Oblast.
When the war began in 2014, the village was located in territory controlled by Ukrainian authorities on the front lines.
Galina Khvostik says that before the occupation, her brother worked at the Zasyadko Mine in Donetsk in a regular blue-collar position. After the fighting at the Donetsk airport, Mykhailo opened a small shop in the village where he lived.
“On June 18, 2017, my brother went to visit relatives in Donetsk. At that time, it was possible to drive into the city through our village. Residents registered in Verkhniotoretsk were allowed to travel to the occupied territory through the checkpoint, meaning he did not violate Ukrainian law by entering the occupied territory.”
Mykhailo Khvostik has not returned home since then. His family began searching for him and later learned that he had been detained by officers of the “Department for Combating Organized Crime of the ‘DPR’ Ministry of Internal Affairs” on charges of espionage and aiding and abetting employees of the Security Service of Ukraine.
“We later learned that Mykhailo was being held in Detention Center No. 5 in Donetsk and that he was being tortured. We know that he was given a choice—torture or cutting his own arms. His arms are cut and stitched up. Later, our parents received threats and demands to pay a ransom for Mykhailo from the occupied territory. Seeing his suffering, we raised money several times and traveled to Donetsk to free our brother, but they took our money and did not release Mykhailo.”
In total, they took about 60,000 dollars from us. This includes visits at the detention center, which cost a thousand dollars each
. It even got to the point where Mykhailo’s family was called and asked to come pick him up, and then, right in front of our father, they put a bag over his head and took him away to an unknown destination. And then the search began again. And again, the demands for money.
“And when his father said there was no money, the threats of violence against his mother and father began. His mother was barred from entering the territory of the ‘DPR’ and was threatened at a checkpoint with being shot if she came back to look for her son.”
It is currently known that the “Supreme Court of the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’” convicted Mykhailo Khvostik under Articles 233 (participation in a terrorist organization) and 321 (espionage) of the “DPR” Criminal Code. It handed down a sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment to be served in a general-regime penal colony.
“My brother is currently in Correctional Colony No. 28, located in Torez. They continue to mistreat him there as well.”
This is an automatic translation generated by DeepL.
