Kherson activist Oleksiy Sivak spent 59 days in basements during the occupation and endured brutal torture for his pro-Ukrainian stance, and after being released he created the organization “Alumni”, which supports civilian men who survived captivity and torture.
This was told by Oleksiy Sivak from Kherson to the publication “Ukrainska Pravda”.
Oleksiy Sivak – a former sailor. After the occupation of Kherson he took part in pro-Ukrainian rallies, posted anti-Russian leaflets, made effigies of “dead Russians” with like-minded people so the occupiers would not feel at ease in the city. Almost immediately he began volunteering – together with his neighbor Roman he delivered food and essential items to elderly people, the publication writes.
Thus, on August 24, 2022, Independence Day of Ukraine, he and another activist hung a Ukrainian flag in the city. The next day the Russians captured both of them.
Oleksiy was beaten and detained in front of his wife. The next 59 days the man spent in basements, until fate took pity: in the truck that was to transport the captives to Russia there was not enough space for everyone. Oleksiy was released, the article says.
“I had 59 days of torture, although they took me to the basement for interrogations 4 times. Someone downstairs was beaten around the clock, I waited around the clock for when they would beat me, the doors opened at any moment – and you had to shout “glory to Putin-Shoigu” or sing the Russian anthem. Or simply in the middle of the night, when there’s nothing to do, [the jailers] would throw a baton into the corridor – wherever it fell, they would beat that cell”, – the former captive says.
The activist also told the publication that after his release he, together with cellmates, created the public organization “Alumni” (Alumni) — a network of civilian men who survived captivity and torture.
The organization, in particular, contributed to documenting crimes by the Russian Federation and influenced the inclusion of the issue of sexual violence against civilians in a UN report.
Earlier MOST wrote that from Russian captivity 205 Ukrainians returned: among them are defenders of Kherson region.