00:00There were months of hunger, of threats, interrogations, of beating.
00:05Some guys also had electric shock applied to them.
00:10We were forced to do excessive physical exercises, like sit-ups and push-ups many times.
00:17And the overall atmosphere was an atmosphere of violence and fear.
00:21We were never taken outside for walks, we were just held in our cells in prison.
00:30We didn't have anything, like very poor hygiene, we didn't have toilet paper.
00:35We didn't have anything to cut our fingernails with.
00:38So we had to scratch them against the wall.
00:41Maxime Budvik, filósofo, veterano, periodista y defensor de derechos humanos ucraniano, fue
00:48prisionero de guerra por dos años y cuatro meses.
00:50Sin mayor experiencia militar, más allá de la que recibió a finales del siglo pasado,
00:55decidió enlistarse en el ejército de su país durante la primera etapa de la invasión
00:59a gran escala ordenada por Vladimir Putin.
01:02Así vivió su cautiverio.
01:03I was captured on the 21st of June 2022 in Luhansk region, not far from the border between
01:11Luhansk and Donetsk region.
01:13It was a beautiful village called Myrna Dolina, which in Ukrainian means Peaceful Valley.
01:21And I thought to myself that to go to war to the village with the name Peaceful Valley
01:28is not a right thing to do.
01:31It was beautiful.
01:32I'm saying it was because Russian artillery basically erased it slowly right in front of
01:38our eyes.
01:40And then I was captured together with eight guys from my platoon, eight of my subordinates,
01:47and spent in captivity two years and four months before being released via exchange in October
01:55last year.
01:56Basically, when we were captured, next day, while we were still on the road, transported,
02:04we were told by Russian officers that we are not prisoners of war.
02:09Not yet, they said.
02:11You will get to your destination point, you will be registered, and this is when Geneva
02:16conventions will start to apply to you.
02:19So far, you just disappeared in the battle zone, and if you misbehave, if you do something
02:23wrong, or if you don't do what we are telling you to do, you might never reappear again.
02:29And they told me, if you want, we can have a walk to the backyard, and you'll see the
02:35remnants of those who didn't understand that.
02:38I didn't want to take that walk.
02:40Maxim, some people have said that they'd rather die than being captured by Russian forces.
02:45Actually, you were taken by them, and you were sentenced to 13 years in prison.
02:51How was that?
02:53In a couple of months' time, they decided that to keep me as a POW is not enough.
02:59And they decided to orchestrate a criminal case against me.
03:03They accused me of war crimes, that in the town of Severodonetsk, me and my platoon were
03:11staying in the residential area.
03:15And I've seen two local women, and just because I've seen them, civilians.
03:22I decided to kill them from RPG, like rocket-propelled grenade launcher, for no reason.
03:30Being safe, being sane and sound.
03:34But I missed, according to the case file, and just injured them, and also damaged some window
03:42frame.
03:43So that was the accusation.
03:46That was ironic, because they accused me of violating Geneva Conventions, which they never
03:52observed themselves.
03:54To me, it was very significant, because they turned international humanitarian law into a
04:00bad joke.
04:02Just to say that we've never been to Severodonetsk.
04:05We've never been to that town.
04:08And on the date of my supposed crime, I was in Kyiv.
04:12And there was plenty of evidence to that.
04:15But it never mattered.
04:16It just didn't matter.
04:18I was surprised by the trial.
04:20They made it as if it is real.
04:25There was a judge, and there was a prosecutor.
04:27And I had a lawyer who's never seen me before, and who's never read my case file.
04:35Well, there was no audience.
04:38There was only guard.
04:39Did you lose hope at any time?
04:41What were your thoughts?
04:43I've never lost hope.
04:45I should say, it is quite natural to have moments of disbelief and depression.
04:54I think everyone who was in captivity went through that.
04:58There are moments in time when everything starts to seem to be dark, and you start to think
05:04that you have forgotten.
05:05Because for most of the part of that time, we were held incommunicado.
05:11I've put all my trust in my loved ones, in my colleagues, in my friends.
05:15I knew they cannot forget about me.
05:18I knew they are going to fight for me, to talk about me, to spread the word.
05:23Of course, I never realized before, or until I was released, how big the solidarity campaign
05:33in Ukraine was, and also internationally.
05:38But I had a lot of time to think in captivity.
05:42You know, when you are swallowed by the stream of events and attempts to assist people, you
05:51don't really have time to think about some fundamental things in your life, what you build
05:58your convictions upon, why you do what you do.
06:01I wanted to have some space and time for that before the full-scale invasion.
06:07I never had it, but then on the third day in prison in Luhansk, I suddenly realized that
06:14now I have space and time, and I am disturbed only by interrogators.
06:19The rest of the time I can think about it, and I did.
06:23Maxine, thank you for being here.
06:25And in our audience, if you want to know more about what is happening in Ukraine and other
06:30topics, visit our website www.elespectador.com
06:34and don't forget to follow us through our social networks.
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