ATORTURE CHAMDER FOR ONE FAMILY

In the family of Olena Gaponenko from the village of Kozacha Lopan, Dergachiv community, Russians took the entire family to a torture chamber - her, her son and daughter-in-law, and her daughter. Because the Gaponenko's did not hide their patriotic views, they were accused of adjusting fire in favor of the Ukrainian army and taken to the local train station, where other imprisoned residents were also held. "I regret that we weren't actually fire adjusters," says Olena, "Everything would be different now..." She spoke about torture with electric shocks and severe beatings, and the consequences of inhuman treatment of Ukrainians. "My son was black, my daughter had her hair torn out, her head pierced, her nails torn out, and my daughter-in-law was also blue. They tortured me and my son with electricity, that's for sure. My daughter did not confess. After the de-occupation, she had two cracks in her skull, and an X-ray was taken. She said, "Mom, I was hit on the head 74 times. After her release, she drank tea quietly for two weeks and was silent. She was just silent. She would lie down and walk. 'Don't come in, don't come up, don't touch me, and my daughter-in-law did the same,'" recalls Olena Gaponenko. But the fate of many prisoners of this torture chamber, as well as dozens of others, still remains unknown. According to Olena, not only Russians tortured her family, but in terms of cruelty, the Russians were unrivaled. It was hard to believe that all this was done to Ukrainians by those who were considered good neighbors ten years ago...

The movie is available at this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl21MJvLo6o

Supported by the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program of the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Government.