Source: Interview by Yanina Sokolova, 30 November 2023. https://youtu.be/1zNyG55NGBI?si=AYV3BTMkVQfa3CZr

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This is the story of one of the 5,000 Ukrainian POWs who spent nearly 15 months in Russian captivity.

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Olexander Didur was born in 1991 in Oleshky, Kherson region.  At the beginning of 18th century there was Oleshkivska Sich, a Cossack fortress, then in 1928 Oleshky was renamed Tsyrupinsk after one of the communists who carried out the Holodomor policy in that region.  In 2016 the town was given back its historical name. At the moment Oleshky is under Russian occupation.

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Olexander has been serving in the Ukrainian Army since 2015. At first he served on the “Zaporizhzhia” Submarine and then as a marine in Mariupol.

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On the 24th of February 2022 Olexander Didur, a senior sergeant of 36th Marine Brigade, was in Pavlopil 30,6km (19 miles) from Mariupol.  During the first days of the Russian offensive operations the Russians were not just marching forward but they were simply showering the Ukrainian towns and villages near Mariupol with all kinds of shells. At least such was the situation in Mariupol region.  The Russians were using whatever shells and ammunition they had at their disposal. The sky was lit up with a rainbow of colours. These shells were flying over Olexander’s 36th Marine Brigade, targeting further villages, but actually they were targeted at the civilian population of the towns and villages of Mariupol region and at Mariupol itself of course. Actually the whole sky was burning. The 24th of February was a dark night but it was as bright as day. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the 36th Marine Brigade were considered to be Air Defence Forces, they didn’t have the weapons to counteract these air attacks, that is to protect their sky. After a while the missiles were targeted at the brigade too. Then they were given the order to slowly retreat. It took them several days to reach Mariupol, as they could not understand what was going on. They didn’t know where our troops were and where the Russians were. Finally they took their defence positions at the Illicha plant at Azovstal - the Azovstal Plant is divided into two parts, the Illicha plant and Azovmash. Their task was to protect the sky, if you could call it protection without proper ammunition. But our boys were doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. That was why so many of them fell in the battles. Those who survived are unfortunately all in Russian captivity. Then more and more Russians came into the city of Mariupol. The city was surrounded. And in May extraction took place. Olexander was taken prisoner in May 2022.

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Olexander was wounded on 6th of April 2022. On 12th of April all those wounded were taken prisoner. And Olexander sees this as the right decision because the 36th Marine Brigade did not want to surrender. They wanted to break through.  There were rumours that the 36th Marine Brigade didn’t want to fight and gave in a month before the extraction: we don’t know who sowed these rumours but it was all wrong.  The 36th Marine Brigade fought and fought well and didn’t want to surrender. The boys were killed but they didn’t want to surrender. It was a very dire situation. They had nothing to eat and they had nothing to fight with. They had 5, 47 and 62 mm bullets and hand grenades but they were fighting to the last bullet, and to the last trench. There was nothing to eat and nothing to drink but no one wanted to surrender. About 70% of the 36th Marine Brigade were killed in the battles. Then came the permission to surrender as there was nothing to fight with. But 36th Marine Brigade did not want to surrender. They wanted to break through. And it was decided to surrender the wounded soldiers and women as they could not take them to their battles. There was a list of those who were given for extraction. It was known to the military leadership.  Mariupol was encircled. But some of our boys managed to break through.

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That is how Olexander was wounded. The Russian Orcs came very close to their position. There were lots of hand-to-hand battles. Although all the marines were very well trained, due to the fact that there was an enormous number of Russians it was very difficult to hold their position. To save whatever meagre ammunition they had, they would allow the enemy to come very close and only then they would fire. Their motto was “if I don’t see the enemy’s face, I don’t fire.” But then a tank came. At first it would fire from a distance. However, seeing that there was no counterattack, the tank started coming closer and closer and closer. At last it came on the left side of their position. They heard it coming. So Olexander ordered his men to go down to the bunker while he stayed put to watch the tank. But one of his men did not follow his command and stayed just one floor below. Actually he saved Olexander’s life. If it had not been for him, Olexander would not have survived. So the tank approached. Olexander reported it. “I see the target, distance, direction, etc.”. The men in the tank knew the Ukrainian soldiers were in the building but they did not know precisely where. Olexander only managed to see how the tank moved its gun barrel in their direction and then the flash. That was it. There was an explosion. Olexander does not remember what happened next. The shell came three meters away from Olexander and went right into the wall behind him. In reality, nothing should have been left of him. Olexander does not understand how he stayed alive. When the surgeons were examining Olexander they were shocked as there were shell fragments in his head and left hand. And with these kind of shell fragments people cannot live. His three right hand fingers were torn off, the bones of his left hand were broken, his left eye was knocked out. Olexander believes that at the moment when the tank fired, his guardian angel simply put his arms round him. That was why he stayed alive. His guardian angel took all the force and perhaps suffered even more than Olexander himself. His combat friend carried him down to the bunker. Olexander’s comrades-in-arms were calling to him but he could not answer so they believed he was dead because with such a wound people don’t survive. But perhaps Olexander gave some moan and they started to give him first aid. Naturally, Olexander lost a lot of blood.

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Olexander came to his senses in captivity. He was taken prisoner while he was unconscious. When he regained consciousness he saw two Chechen men who were guarding him. Perhaps Olexander had been raving as they were listening trying to make sense of what he was saying. One was standing at Olexander’s head while the other was at the door. Then the one at Olexander’s head started hitting Olexander slightly on his head with his gun grip saying: “Do you know where are you? Do you know who you are?” But the one at the door said: “Oh, leave him alone. Don’t you see he is going to die.” That was how Olexander came to his senses. Then Olexander was moved to Hospital No.15 in Donetsk.  Because he was a bedridden patient who was severely wounded, could not stand and was bandaged all over, the other prisoners were feeding him. There were guards in the hospital too. They were checking the prisoners. All the prisoners were interrogated. Luckily Olexander was not tortured. 

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As soon as they saw that Olexander could walk to the toilet he was sent to the “ZONE”, a name for the prison camp system, at Olenivka in Donetsk region.   Olenivka was the prison where the Russians organized a terrorist attack, killing prisoners of war but claiming that it was the Ukrainian Army’s doing as Russians wanted to show that Ukrainians were killing their own soldiers. Olexander’s barrack was number 6.

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When their guards came to work angry as a dog with rabies and they would take the prisoners to their observation post to beat them just for the fun of it, the prisoners knew that something had gone wrong on the front and the Russians were losing. That something good was happening for Ukraine and something bad for the Russians.  The guards tried to make up for it by beating the prisoners just for nothing. “Don’t raise your heads!” they said. It is known that Russia does not obey the Geneva Convention. The first POWs were interrogated very severely. They were tortured and abused. They set dogs on the POWs to tear them to pieces.  Many were beaten to death.  

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The prisoners could hear the sound of explosions somewhere beyond the ZONE. And if somewhere near them the war was still going on it could mean just one thing: Ukraine was still alive. As for the terrorist act in Olenivka the question arises why the Russians did it. Olexander explains that first of all a separate barrack was prepared for the terrorist act. It used to be a workshop. So the guards made the prisoners from different barracks take away all the tools and machine tools from that workshop and fix the floor, then bring in beds and mattresses. This preparation work took a couple of days. After that the barrack was locked and no one was allowed to enter it. No prisoners were working on that side of the Zone although it was considered to be a work camp and the inmates were taken there to do all kinds of jobs: to weed grass and other work. Then Barracks 1,2, 9 and 10 were visited by guards with lists of names. These were the barracks where the POWs from the Azov Regiment were kept. So according to their names on the list the Azov prisoners were placed in the newly prepared barrack. And practically on the same night the explosion occurred there.  Those who had to collect the remains of the prisoners testified that the explosion was from the inside not from outside. Everything was blown out. That means that the explosive was laid somewhere under the floor and the explosion occurred just to make it seem that Ukraine was killing its own soldiers.  But according to official satellite evidence we know that there were no strikes from Ukraine in that direction at that particular time.

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The Russians are angry because we live well. They cannot understand why we had things while they didn’t.

 

Olexander was fighting for his land. He did not want them to get his family. In captivity all prisoners tried to help each other. To support each other. 

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Olexander had become an invalid.  He lost 3 fingers on his right hand, leaving only the thumb and little finger. Amazingly he managed to learn to write with his two remaining fingers and to type messages on his cell phone. Though he was told that it would be impossible to write or type with two fingers but as Olexander was very determined he managed to use his hand. His left hand can’t function at all because there were ten shell fragments, two of which went through above his elbow and shoulder. The shoulder somehow healed itself but the arm stayed broken as he was in Russian captivity and no medical assistance was provided.  He had an arm sling thanks to the first aid he was given in the bunker but that was all. (The medical help he received in the bunker had been professional as marines were trained according to NATO standards).  So during the 15 months of his captivity he had no medical help until he was exchanged. Unfortunately because of nerve atrophy the left arm cannot be restored. After the exchange he has undergone several operations and still he needs some more. His arm does not function but Olexander will not give in. He believes that against all odds it will start to function. But the Ukrainian government did not help him with rehabilitation. Servicemen who become invalids defending their country now get Hr700-800 (approx. $20) per month. They undergo treatment in hospitals on the state budget but they need to feed their families, their children, and to plan their future life as well as think how to live with their disabilities. They are no longer considered to be servicemen and no one now needs them. In practice many were getting treatment at private clinics due to the help of volunteers while the state did not have any interest in their fate. And throughout his treatment Olexander was under “The Heart of Azovstal” volunteer project. He and his family were given an apartment as a present. Not in Kyiv itself but near Kyiv. It’s impossible to thank those people enough as his family of four really needed it. “The Heart of Azovstal” take care of Mariupol defenders who have come back from Russian captivity. The private clinic Adonis helps with rehabilitation.

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While Olexander was fighting in Mariupol his wife was in Mykolaiv. She was pregnant with their second child. At night there was shelling and she and her daughter were hiding in their bathtub. Then in the morning she was taken to the maternity home and again the shelling started anew. So she was led to the bunker were she gave birth to the baby boy. Under shelter. The baby boy was coming out with his legs first. In this situation she really needed a Caesarian but under the circumstances it could not be done. Luckily she managed to give birth to her baby practically standing. Under shelling.

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Olexander dreams of opening a rehabilitation center to help our servicemen recover after Russian captivity as well as those who were wounded and need help now. Help actually to find sense in life, to find a job and keep in touch to make sure that everything is OK with the person. Olexander wants to help people. He wants to be their inspiration and believes that if you start moving step by step you will succeed. That is why he believes that Ukraine will win this war.