​Kostyantyn Bobryk was born in Luhansk and lived there until 2014. In his civil life he worked as a train driver and was employed by Ukrzaliznytsya (Ukrainian Railways) for more than 30 years. He had a large family – four children, one girl and three boys. At the beginning of the present war in 2014, when the Russian aggressors started to occupy Luhansk, Kostyantyn sent his wife and the children to Mariupol in July of that year because they had relatives living there. Kostyantyn himself stayed in Luhansk to continue his work bringing trains with coal to Ukraine and the empty wagons back.  He stayed and worked there until December 2014.

One day as he came back home from work his neighbours told him that visitors from the new administration were looking for him. It was all because he had tried to explain to his neighbours and to some other people in the street that what was going on was all wrong.  It was illegal and the Russians were occupiers. Perhaps someone had reported him to the Russians. In fact, when the occupation started society was divided and there were different attitudes to the Russian invasion in Luhansk. Those who supported Ukraine and considered Russia’s actions to be the actions of an aggressor would come out with slogans such as “Russia is the aggressor country”, trying to explain to those who welcomed Russia that it was wrong to cross the border of a neighbouring country and occupy it under any pretext. Unfortunately, there were people whom Kostyantyn knew very well, such as his children’s godparents, who said that it did not matter who was ruling there, or who would be living next to them or what kind of money they would get, roubles or hryvnas, it did not matter to them.  And as a result, there were lots of people with whom Kostyantyn and his family stopped any communication. It was very painful and disappointing that Ukraine gave those people everything but they did a terrible thing to their motherland Ukraine. It still hurts to think about it. And it still hurts to realise that people could do such things. 
 
Kostyantyn understood to be looked for by the Russian administration meant, so he hired a car and went to Mariupol to join his family. When he arrived there, he went to the recruitment office to join the army but they told him that since he was a freight train driver he should go and work according to his qualification. Ukraine needed workers. Mariupol was a nice city and Kostyantyn and his family enjoyed living there until 2022. He told the interviewer that the city was blooming like a flower. When they lived in Luhansk and visited Mariupol for a holiday, it struck them as a working city and a bit grey. But after the occupation of Luhansk in 2014 Mariupol had become a city of regional importance and money was invested into it. So it became very beautiful. It was very clean and a lot of newly built residential areas appeared there. Mariupol was no longer a grey city but had become a multi-coloured city. And the majority of people in Mariupol supported Ukraine.

Kostyantyn retired in 2017. He had previously told his wife that as he didn’t join the army in 2014, he would certainly join up despite of his age if Russia started a real war.  When Russia started its full-scale war on 22nd of February 2022, Kostyantyn was sixty years old. On 24th of February he went to the recruitment office.  

On 24th Kostyantyn’s wife was at work and he was at home when his wife called him and asked if he had switched on the TV. Kostyantyn said that he didn’t need a TV to understand what was happening as they could already hear the shelling and bombardment. And when he did switch on the TV he could see there was full-scale war against Ukraine. His wife told him that she would come home as they had been released from work and Kostyantyn said that he was packing his duffel bag to go to the recruitment office. When he left the house, he hugged his wife and she said “Don’t even think of not coming home! Just you try!”.  They laughed and then she added: “I will be waiting for you in Mariupol. But if we somehow lose each other then we’ll meet in the fine city of Ivano-Frankivsk.”

There were many people in Mariupol who wanted to go to the front so there were long queues at the recruitment office.  When Kostyantyn came there they told him that they couldn’t recruit him as he was sixty and a half. But “What do you mean you can’t recruit me?” Kostyantyn retorted. “My two sons are fighting and I want to fight too.” So at the beginning they sent him to a detachment of border guards but the border guards said to him, “Father, go home. We will manage.” Then Kostyantyn went back to the recruitment office and this time they decided to send him to a territorial defence detachment.            
                         
That was how Kostyantyn joined the 109th Brigade of the city of Mariupol’s territorial defence detachment and so he was defending Mariupol from the enemy starting from 25th of February 2022. There were Russian air raids and explosions in the city and his detachment moved to the Azovstal steel works. On 28th of February they were sent to help the Azov regiment. Kostyantyn was a sergeant and a unit commander in the 109th Brigade. At that time all the commanders were from “Azov” and those who joined them were artillery.   Kostyantyn was an assistant grenadier, then an assistant machine gunner and a rifleman.  So he mastered different military skills during those 86 days when Mariupol defended itself.  They were defending the city on the left bank. The commanders were always telling them that help was on its way, and indeed help was coming, but it was so little. Perhaps because the Russians directed a lot of force onto Mariupol. Starting from the second week, the city was already under siege. At that point the defenders understood that they could only count on themselves. They would have to fight alone and help could not reach them. The fighters had a good martial spirit: they would laugh, joke, tell stories. In the evenings they would get together to drink coffee. Kostyantyn’s heart ached from the thought that the majority of the fighters were young men. They were mostly under 30. In “Azov” there were some who were 22, 21, 27. Many of them were killed but no one cried, no one whimpered or complained. They were taught how to fight.

Mariupol was ruined. The Russians burned the whole city. When they attacked Ukraine they had believed that they would be met with flowers. Perhaps they were told that people looked forward to their arrival because the people of Mariupol spoke Russian and watched Russian TV. One day the reconnaissance soldiers came and said, “We saw Russians taking toilet seats and carrying them away.”.  And they also heard Russians speaking over the radio saying: “Why do they have such nice roads? We don’t have such roads.” At the beginning the Russians used to shout: “We don’t fight with civilians. We are fighting with “Azov”.”  “Azov” was like a bone stuck in their throat. They wanted to destroy everything, to destroy the whole of Ukraine. The Russians saw that Ukrainians had a good life and were living in peace and comfort. They were jealous of that.    
                                                 
There were lots of children in Mariupol. When the defenders entered the basements of the houses they saw so many children there. The kids were scared, s0 if the defenders could find a sweet or some chocolate they would give it to the children.  The children would hug their defenders and kiss them and draw doves and flags to give them to the defenders. These were patriotic drawings. Once a girl aged six or eight hugged Kostyantyn and said, “Granddad, I am frightened.” She had a brother 14 years old. So Kostyantyn said to her, “Look, your brother is so strong. Look, he is not crying. Take his hand and hold it tight. Don’t lose each other. Stay together then you won’t be frightened. Your brother will defend you.” The boy smiled at Kostyantyn and said: “Yes, Granddad, I will defend her.”

There were lots of elderly people in the apartment houses. At the beginning when the defenders were cooking, they would bring potatoes and soup to the elderly. And the elderly too when they cooked something, they would bring their meals to the defenders: spring rolls, pancakes, patties. Practically every house in Mariupol was a fortress and that was why the Russians burned everything. The Russians would not look to see if there were any civilians in the house or not. The Russians would bombard the houses with their mines or destroy them with their tanks. And if the Russians knew that there were defenders in a house, they would burn it to cinders. When the situation became desperate, many civilians switched sides because they wanted to save their children.

So from 28th of February until 12th of March Kostyantyn was fighting under the “Azov” commander on the front line of defence. Kostyantyn was wounded for the first time at the end of March when a Russian sniper was aiming at Kostyantyn’s commander but missed. Then Kostyantyn became his target. The sniper hit Kostyantyn in his leg. Luckily the wound was not serious, so Kostyantyn was able to join his commander at the front line. On 12th of March the Ukrainian defenders were moving from one fighting position to the other. There was shelling in the morning. Then the Russian infantry attacked but the defenders repulsed their attack. After that the Russians sent in a BTR armoured personnel carrier which started to burn the building. Kostyantyn only came to know about this after the battle when his friends told him what had happened because he did not remember. When the Russian tank fired Kostyantyn was buried under the ruins. He was unconscious for about six hours. His comrades-in-arms dug him out when they heard his moans. Kostyantyn had his ribs broken, shrapnel in his arm and head, broken knees. He was wounded in several places.  The combat medic cleaned up the wounds and transported Kostyantyn to hospital in Azovstal. It was very dangerous to take Kostyantyn or any other wounded soldier to hospital as there was constant shelling and the whole of Mariupol was in ruins. Everything was in full view of the enemy. All the wounded had to be transported at night because during the daytime the snipers were working and missiles were targeting buildings. The evacuators were heroic men, great respect and gratitude to them all!   

Kostyantyn got first aid in a hospital at the Azovstal plant.  At that time there was very little food and medication left. The Azovstal doctors seemed to have their talent from God Himself because they saved several wounded defenders without medication. Without their help many of the wounded would not have survived.

There were several hospitals at the Azovstal. Kostyantyn got into to the central one. At that time there were 350 severely wounded defenders there. The men with less serious wounds stayed on the front line fighting. On 28th of April there was the worst shelling of all. The Russians destroyed the surgery, canteen, and the main entrance of the Central Hospital. After that it was in ruins with practically no food or medication. No painkillers at all! The surgeons had to operate without painkillers!

Kostyantyn could not go to the front line any longer and he did not have a weapon. The Azovstal plant was under siege. The defenders were fighting on its approaches. This was the circle defence covering all sides of the plant.  It was difficult. The shelling went on day and night. The aviation was working, and the Russians were firing from their ships. Those who were fighting would say: “I will not surrender. I will fight to the end!”  Their fighting spirit was great, and everyone knew that the men who were going to take up their combat positions would not allow the Russians to enter Azovstal.

There was no phone connection and no internet. The defenders did not know where their loved ones were and whether they were alive or not. The worst thing was to be kept in the dark.

The wounded soldiers had a radio and they knew that the whole world was talking about Azovstal. The wounded believed that they would be buried under the ruins of Azovstal as there were constant bombardments. The Russians were dropping tons and tons of bombs. They were exploding. It was horrible!

Then the commander told the defenders that their commander in chief had ordered them to stop their resistance because the life of the soldiers was the most important thing. The defenders were told that they should come out. That was their destiny. They were told that they would be prisoners for three to four months only. On 17th of May the list of the names of those who would have to leave with the first group was read out. Kostyantyn was in this group. They were led out. When the defenders approached the Russians, they were examined. The backpacks that the Russians liked were taken away from them. Then the Red Cross. But the Red Cross did not examine them. After that the defenders were put onto buses and the buses set off. Where to? Nobody knew. Captivity is suspense. You get into the enemy’s hands and you know that the enemy is vicious. This group of Mariupol defenders was taken to Olenivka.  

That was something horrific! Olenivka was Correctional Facility No.120. It had been controlled by the unlawful self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic since 4th of September 2014 but then the Russians decided to use it for Ukrainian POWs and turn it into a filtration camp. When the POWS from Azovstal were brought there they were examined thoroughly. They were ordered to take off all their clothes, everything was checked and then the Russians helped themselves to whatever they wanted. Kostyantyn had half a kilo of sugar and it was confiscated. If anyone protested, the Russians would just cut the thing to pieces. Then the POWs were brought to a barrack with capacity for 200 people. The Russians put 525 people there. There were no beds and prisoners had to sleep on the floor. There was a small primitive stove and no water. At the beginning, water would be brought in in small 60-80 litre canisters and later the Russians installed 100 litre tanks. The water was brought from some lake and the prisoners had to drink it in order not to die of dehydration. There was no food just a few crumbs so that the prisoners would not die. If there was tea, then not more than 100 grams and without sugar. The prisoners lacked glucose so many fainted. A 100 gram piece of bread had to last for the whole day. Occasionally, even less than 100 grams. Besides there was never fresh bread. It was usually stale. Russians served POWs prison soup, that is gruel with fish heads in it. And on top of that there were the constant interrogations. 

Typical questions were: "Why did you join the army?" and "Where did you serve?". The Russians tried to find a weak link, tried to find out who was weak and who was strong. Who would report and who wouldn’t. Kostyantyn spent a whole month in Olenivka. Every day there were interrogations. Some prisoners were taken away, some were left.
 
Then the Russians read out some names and said, "And now you will go home.” What did they mean? Many believed it was too good to be true so the majority believed that they would be taken to another place. And it turned out that the majority was right. Two hundred POWs were taken to Luhansk Regional Prison. When Kostyantyn joined the army he weighed 90-92 kg but when he left Olenivka he lost nearly half of his body weight. He weighed only 55kg.

In Luhansk Regional Prison they were kept in a convict area. There were 200 people in one barrack. When Russians wanted to put a prisoner in his place, they would beat him up. It was said the Russians would also conduct electricity between the fingers. During this procedure, the Russians would order the prisoner to put his hands behind his head, bow down his head so the prisoner would not see his torturer, feet shoulder width apart. No talking in the ranks. If the prisoner lifted his head, they would strike it.

The Russians would use any reason or no reason at all to beat up a prisoner. There were constant examinations. During the search in the barrack the Russians would turn everything upside down. They were prisoners stand in the sun for hours and make them learn the Russian anthem. And then they would check how well the prisoners had managed to learn their anthem. They were looking at the prisoners with such hatred as if they were ready to tear the prisoners up to small pieces. That was how the Russians hated the prisoners. Some prisoners testified that they were forced to give false evidence. The Russians would constantly say: "Ukraine does not need you. Stay here in Russia. If you go back home, you will be taken to camps where you will be tortured because you betrayed Ukraine. You will be on trial for treason." Kostyantyn was interrogated with these words by an FSB officer.  Kostyantyn would answer:  "I won’t be arrested. Furthermore, I will be at home." During the interrogations Russians would tell the prisoners that Ukraine was almost completely occupied by Russia. They would tell the prisoners that Lviv was already under Russia. Then the Russians installed TV and transmitted Russian news with Skabeyeva 24/7 [Olga Skabeyeva is a prominent presenter for the propaganda political talk-show "60 minutes" on the Russian TV chanel Rossiya-1]. The Russians did not realize that Ukrainians would not be fooled by its news. What’s more the prisoners could come to their own conclusions. This Russian information was filtered among the prisoners. They could guess what was right and what was wrong. The Russians would tell the prisoners that Ukraine’s allies had stopped supplying military help. But the POWs knew that it was the other way round. The prisoners would not believe that Russia had occupied Kyiv and Lviv. They understood that the Russians could not go much further the Donetsk region. When the prisoners found out that Russians had “tactically” left Kherson, they knew that Kherson had been liberated. This was a great joy for the POWs. They could not shout out loud “Hooray!” but they sang the anthem of Ukraine in low voices. The prisoners knew from their stay in Olenivka what it would mean if their torturers heard them sing in Ukrainian, especially the Ukrainian anthem.

On 6th of March 2023 the POWs were lined up and told: “You have 5 minutes to get ready.” The prisoners believed that they would be taken to some other prison and indeed from that place there were very seldom any POW  exchanges, and if so usually it would be just one or two people. But nearly 70 were lined up. When a Russian TV journalist came up to ask the POWs how their lives at Olenivka were, the prisoners understood that this meant they would be exchanged. It is hard to explain what they felt. They wanted to believe in the good news but at the same time it was hard to believe.

On 7th of March the hands of the POWs were tied and they were blindfolded. The Russians took them to the airfield and flew them to some place by plane. Then the Russians put them on buses, untied their hands and took away their blindfolds but ordered them to bow down their heads and pull their hats over their eyes. After what seemed an eternity, the bus stopped and the POWs did not move, remaining sitting and waiting for further instructions. And then someone entered the bus and said: “Guys, lift up your heads. You are home!”  

There were tears in the eyes of POWs. Their souls were screaming! Kostyantyn pinched himself to check whether he was dreaming or was it for real? Then volunteers came up to the defenders of Mariupol, gave them Ukrainian state flags and everyone shouted: “Glory to Ukraine!”. People hugged each other. Everyone had the feeling that he had never been forgotten, that they were liberated from Russian captivity. It was impossible to put these feelings into words. It was like being born a second time. Everyone realized that it was not for nothing that they had fought, then became POWs. It wasn’t for nothing that they had survived Russian captivity!

Then the POWs were given mobile phones. That was their first conversation with their families since 24th of February 2022. Kostyantyn’s wife had found out for the first time that her husband was in Russian captivity in December 2022 when one of the other POWs was exchanged. Kostyantyn had given him his mobile number so he could phone Kostyantyn's wife and tell her that her husband was alive.

When Kostyantyn met his wife, she told him that she and kids had been under the Moskaly (Russian invaders) for a month and then they had walked on foot to Vygledar, then reached Berdyansk by car. There the Russians had allowed a “green corridor” and they went to Zaporizhzhia and from there volunteers helped them to go to Ivano-Frankivsk.

Talking about himself later, Kostyantyn stressed that it was very difficult from the psychological point of view to return to life after Russian captivity. It was as if you were at home and yet you couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to talk to anybody. He just wanted to be alone. During that year of war and Russian captivity the POWs got used to that life and were kind of scared of freedom. It seems so fragile.

Kostyantyn like all the other POWs had to undergo treatment at the hospital and psychologists were working with them. They were treated in Lviv. His wife would come to visit Kostyantyn there. Now Kostyantyn is 62 and a half. And because of his wounds he can’t serve in the army any longer. He has joined his family in Ivano-Frankivsk and they decided to stay there. In the centre of the city there is a Memory Alley to honour the fallen heroes. It’s nice to know that the residents remember their heroes. This is a reminder of the price Ukrainians pay for their right to be free. You can see that people live here not only their own lives but do not forget about the lives of servicemen. There are many servicemen in Ivano-Frankivsk. People give way to them in queues in the shops and drivers don’t take money from them for rides on the bus even if they don’t have a “Combat Veteran” certificate.    
       
Ivano-Frankivsk is a very quiet city. The people are very friendly. Kostyantyn’s two elder sons continue to serve in the army fighting on the front.

There are demonstrations in Ivano-Frankivsk to support the POWs. It’s not a resistance movement. These demonstrations are organised to remind people that the war is going on and many Mariupol defenders are still in captivity. And it’s difficult to survive there in those inhuman conditions when the Red Cross does not appear to care or to help. It’s an existential war and there is very fierce fighting. Some were killed, some were wounded and some were taken prisoner. These POWs are tortured, beaten up, starved and without any medical help. It’s very difficult for them from the psychological point of view. They should be liberated. They should be exchanged. We all understand that the state does its share of work. But it’s a two-way street. We know how the enemy go about prisoner exchanges. The Ukrainian government is doing a great job on that and it should be done in silence. Hence, these demonstrations to support our POWs are a reminder that our people are kept in Russian captivity.

Kostyantyn was a pro-Ukrainian Russian speaking man. And only now he is switching to speak Ukrainian. He has been learning Ukrainian for half a year and he hasn’t mastered it yet but he is eager to speak it fluently. His family has switched to Ukrainian as well. Their love for their Fatherland has grown one thousand times.

As for the Russians, this nation doesn’t exist for Kostyantyn any longer. And he wishes that the Russians would cease to exist for ever and ever. Kostyantyn would like to see huge walls built along the whole border of Ukraine with Russia, high walls so that Russians could not see or even hear Ukrainians. Let Russians stay in that enclosure and hang out with themselves. But unfortunately Russia doesn’t want to leave Ukrainians alone. They want to destroy. Small wonder that after ruining Mariupol the Russians are building new buildings to sell them to citizens of the Russian Federation.  What hypocrisy! They claimed they came to liberate Ukrainians but in reality they just needed Ukrainian territory to colonize with their people! What hypocrisy! The Russians direct their missiles at the civilian population in Russian speaking Kharkiv telling them that their aim is to liberate Russians from Ukraine. The Russians kill children with their missiles, they kill the elderly and disabled with their missiles, they kill pets with their missiles. They kill whole families with their missiles, the Russians kill whoever they can kill in Ukraine. For them it does not matter that they are killing thousands who speak the Russian language. They tell the world that Russians are liberators. But we all know their true value. We won’t allow them to destroy Ukraine. Lots of young men aged 19-20 want to fight for Ukraine. Even being captured and tortured they say: "We will come back and go to the front right away. We will fight!" It’s difficult to explain but for Ukrainians our country, our land, our families are sacred. We will overcome!