Anatoliy is 64. He was the oldest man in Russian captivity. His native city was Mariupol. He used to work at Azovstal as a bulldozer driver. Then he became a pastor. ...He and his wife had four children of their own and adopted three more. When the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022, Anatoliy thought that everything would end soon. Despite that on 24th of February 2022 he enrolled in a territorial defence unit and received military equipment and weapons. He took the oath. As a pastor he had had to make the decision whether to take up arms. Later, in captivity, he was asked “How could it be that you are a pastor and took up arms?” and his answer was “This is between me and God. No one has the right to tell me what I can or cannot do. The invaders came to steal and kill and destroy and I came out to defend my home.”

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Anatoliy remembers how he and other territorial defence soldiers and servicemen were brought to Azovstal.  There Anatoliy helped the Azov defenders. Anatoliy had to make use of his experience as a bulldozer driver. At night they were digging trenches. They had to break their headlights with hammers so that the light would not betray their location. Enemy drones were flying above them and the Russians were firing from the sea and from their aeroplanes. On 14th of March Anatoliy’s comrade-in-arms and Anatoliy himself came under mortar fire. A shell exploded under the bulldozer hood. Luckily, Anatoliy’s body armour saved him. A shell fragment entered under Anatoliy’s ribs and another shell wounded his hand. He was operated on in a hospital near the Neptune Swimming Pool. That swimming pool was where pregnant women and children took refuge and it was attacked by the Russians on 16 March. The day after the operation Anatoliy was lying in bed near the window, when a shell struck. The window glass blew out of the window right onto Anatoliy. A nurse came and said “Whether you like it or not you have to escape into the basement.” Anatoliy had just been operated on and he was sewn up, very weak, and had practically no strength at all, he had cuts all over and yet he had to wrap himself into a blanket and, stepping barefoot on shards of glass, go down to the basement. But after the Russian attack on 16th of March all those wounded were transported to Azovstal.  Anatoliy was there in a hospital that was in a bunker room. There were constant Russian air raids and shelling. At one point the underground hospital ran out of food because their canteen was bombed. Everything was piled with debris and it was necessary to dig out the food. They managed to get two cans of sardines for five people. Then they found oat flakes and wetted them in drops of water and then ate them. The Azov defenders were real heroes. They would search for water and bring it to the wounded. There were about 300 people in the bunker hospital. It was real hell. There was not enough water, food, light and oxygen. Some people believed that it was in hell that people would be fried on flames but no, it was like hell in the bunker.

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On 15th of May all the fighting stopped. It was the first time Anatoliy came out into fresh air and he rejoiced seeing the green grass and breathing the air. The destroyed buildings of the Azovstal plant were smouldering all around.  On 17th of May Anatoliy and other servicemen left Azovstal. Actually it took them four days to leave. More than three thousand Azov defenders left Azovstal. When they were coming out, their main thought was that they were alive and they would see what happened next. The PoWs were put on buses and the Russians brought them to Olenivka. As soon as the PoWs arrived all their belongings were taken away from them.  Medical care was provided on a minimum basis. All the food they had there was a ladle of porridge, sauerkraut prison soup (shchi or cabbage soup: water and sauerkraut) with 1/16 of a loaf of bread. That was three meals a day. The dinner was at two o’clock in the morning. And when you are hungry, thin and want to eat it’s very difficult. Leaving the prison canteen one would feel hungry immediately. In order not to spare energy, Anatoliy would lie down or tried to sleep. There were not enough beds for everyone. There were up to 450 POWs in a cell meant for 100 people. The PoWs would sleep under beds because there were not enough beds for everyone.  When talking PoWs would talk about  cooking, gastronomy, about how they used to cook and for whom. As they say the tongue always returns to the sore tooth.  What was happening on the front the PoWs did not know.

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The Azov PoWs were kept in a separate building. At first they were with the rest of the PoWs but then they were taken to a separate building, approximately 900 defenders from the Azov regiment. It was a known fact that the PoWs were beaten up, particularly those who had tattoos of Nordic runes. In a way it was strange because some of the Russians also had runes tattoos.

Anatoliy spent three weeks in Olenivka. On 10th of June the Russians came to read out a list of  names and ordered those people to pack their things. Anatoliy thought that they would be taken for an exchange. The PoWs’ transport passed the Donetsk city bypass and turned to Makiivka.  And then they turned to Vyglegirsk, Debaltseve. Anatoliy thought that if they turned to the left from Debaltseve where there was the road to Bakhmut and Slovyansk, they would be exchanged. But they drove straight ahead and Anatoliy understood that they were being taken to Russia. The PoWs were brought to the Sverdlovsk penal colony. They were welcomed with beatings with clubs. Anatoliy could see that the Russians were angry with the PoWs and scared of them. There were 200 PoWs all together that the Russians had to accommodate. Sverdlovsk has a correctional facility for Ukrainian PoWs. The Ukrainian PoWs were treated like pioneers. Each got a quarter loaf of bread. Then half a plate of porridge. Anatoliy thought this was a one- off but actually the meals there were good. Then day after day the PoWs would have the usual routine.  From time to time there were checks and interrogations. Once Anatoliy was asked: “What are you doing here, old man?”

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Anatoliy answered: “I was defending my home.”

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Anatoliy wore glasses. All Ukrainian PoWs were called “fascists” by the Russians and Anatoliy was called “fascist intellectual.” It was kind of praise for Anatoliy and it kept him encouraged. All PoWs had to do some work. Some were making beds to get cigarettes. Actually they used those beds for the prisoners. And in the carpentry shop they were making one thousand coffins a month for Russian servicemen from ammunition box boards. Anatoliy read the Bible and encouraged the PoWs saying that they had a special mission there.

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The PoWs had to listen to the Russian TV presenter and propagandist Olga Skabeeva. But when they heard the question that she asked guests on her programme: “How are things going there? Is there any victory?” the PoWs understood that there was nothing they could do. And when she said that Biden or some European leaders were visiting Ukraine or when she talked about the Ramstein meeting  the PoWs would say to each other that they were not alone, that 53 countries were supporting and helping Ukraine. So everything would be OK.

On 7th of March 2023 there was another prisoner exchange and 130 Ukrainian defenders came back home. Anatoliy was among them. Two weeks before the exchange the PoWs were brought to the Russian headquarters. They were told that they would be prepared for the exchange. Anatoliy’s heart beating rapidly beating but it was very sad that so many PoWs would be staying in captivity. However, one week passed and there was no exchange. People were losing hope. But then in the evening, the Russians came and said that at 6am in the morning they would be off! Then later they said: “It’s off”.  However in the evening the Russians took 28 men from Anatoliy’s barrack and 50 from another barrack, in total 78 men and brought them to the bathhouse to wash. As a rule the PoWs would take a shower once a week usually on Saturdays.  Fifty men would enter the bathhouse at the same time and there were ten shower heads for all of them. The trickle of water was very weak and there was the time – only five minutes to wash oneself. All in all Anatoliy counted forty baths in captivity.

Then the Russians started to check the prisoners’ personal belongings. They threatened not to take anyone for exchange if they found a telephone or even a small piece of paper. But Anatoliy managed to hide the telephone numbers of the wives whose men were left in the Russian captivity. Then the Russians tied up the PoWs hands and blindfolded them with duct tape. After that the PoWs were put on the bus and it was a long drive. Perhaps to Taganrog. Then they were put on a plane, hands tied up, one next to the other, it was stifling, no toilet. No one was given water so that they would not need the toilet. The PoWs were taken to the border in Sumy region where the exchange took place. Anatoliy could not speak, there was a lump in his throat. Just tears in his eyes. Then he phoned his sons and told them that he was home. During his captivity Anatoliy did not see any human rights defenders or any representatives of the International Red Cross Organization.

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After the exchange Anatoliy was in hospital and also had psychological therapy. When in captivity Anatoliy had longed for apples, fruits, vegetables and vitamins so he was happy to have these things at home.  Anatoliy visited his friends, the chaplains, and made the decision to go to the front after rehabilitation and help the servicemen. Actually, Anatoliy was already enrolled in the “Mariupol” chaplain’s battalion.   Anayoliy is eager to be useful, he wants to be active and helpful or “Otherwise I will get old very soon.”