14-year-old in Kherson region starved by occupiers

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Russian military hold 14-year-old boy hostage during occupation of Kherson
mipl.org.ua
20:15, 01.12.2022

The teenager was held at the Kherson Court of Appeal - not far from the regional administration and the central square.



The Human Rights Media Initiative reports that Vitalik Mukharskiy and his uncle wanted to go to the edge of the village. They planned to take pictures of the occupants' broken equipment while no one was there.

When they approached, Alexey took some photos. At that moment a "Bobik" with Russian soldiers was driving nearby.

Vitaliy says that the military came up and said:

You are taking photos of our equipment, so you are giving up your positions.

After that they tied his and his uncle's hands and forcefully threw them into the car. The guys took them to Kherson.

At their destination, Vitaly and Alexei were separated. The 14-year-old boy was taken to a basement room. There was something resembling a shower room, with more than ten detainees in it.

The boy's parents would later find out that they were holding him at the Kherson Court of Appeal - not far from the regional administration and the central square.

They kidnapped the boy in a T-shirt, a light jacket and trousers, saying it was cold to sit in the basement.

For the first four days Vitaly was given almost no food. The Russians brought food only for two people, probably for those who had been sitting there the longest. Those with the boy shared, but even their portions were meagre.

Vitaly recounted:

On the fifth day I was given two spoonfuls of buckwheat and two spoonfuls of pasta. They fed me once a day.

on September 22nd Vitalii was released. Before that he was only taken outside once where he was asked questions. Vitalii's answers were recorded on video. The questions were of the following nature:

"Whose phone, who took the photo, who took what. Did we pass the photo?"

Vitaliy's parents followed their son to Kherson, where they approached the Russian military. The Kadyrovites also questioned Vitaliy's father. The questions were of various kinds.

after two days, Vitaliy and his uncle were released.

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Oleg Kotov

Oleg Kotov writes about the war in Ukraine and how it is changing the world.