“When my daughter was transferred to a common cell with the girls from Azov, her whole body was not even blue, but black from beatings - a solid hematoma”
- Ira is in the Donetsk pre-trial detention center, - told Alexandra Stolyar. - Today, transfers, dates are forbidden to the daughter, there is no connection with her. It is also impossible to get information because of the local lawyer - it is clear from his behavior that he is afraid of reprisals from the occupiers, therefore he deliberately lies.
- Did any of the women who were sitting with Irina in the Donetsk pre-trial detention center return as part of the prisoner exchange?
- Yes, last spring the girls from Azov returned, who were in the same cell with my daughter. According to them, Ira is relatively healthy. At first she was kept in solitary confinement. Subsequently, they were transferred to a cell in criminal convicts - in order to “teach my child how to behave in prison.” When, finally, the daughter was transferred to a common cell with the girls from Azov, her whole body was not even blue, but black from the beatings - a solid hematoma.
For a long time, 21 people were kept in the cell of the girls from Azov, designed for ten. They had to sleep two by two on the same bunks. Now at least they were separated into two cells, so each has its own bunk. They have no walks - all the time within four walls without fresh air and normal physical activity. They get sick - some kind of rash on the body appears and then disappears. The girls who were exchanged were examined. Our doctors, unfortunately, cannot yet diagnose what kind of rash it is.
What else? The girls imprisoned in the Donetsk pre-trial detention center have problems with hygiene products - they (these products) simply do not exist. When it was allowed to send parcels (grandmother took them to Donetsk), we supplied Ira with everything she needed. But for six months now, parcels have been banned. One single time, Ira was allowed to visit her grandmother. The daughter then told her that she had to tear off pieces of fabric from the mattresses in order to use them for hygiene purposes. Water is given to slaves every three days - poured into bottles. The girls drink some of that, they use something for washing. They sleep with these bottles so that the water is at least room temperature for washing.
When it was allowed, we passed on 5-6 five-liter eggplants. As I said, then (this was last autumn) we gave Ira literally everything she needed - warm clothes, pillows, blankets, hygiene items, etc. All this remained in the convict - Ira was transferred to the cell with the girls from Azov with what was on it.
- Jailers beat girls?
Yes, they do. There are many reasons for this. For example, someone in the cell joked and the slaves laughed. This is considered a violation. They are taken out into the corridor and beaten. They beat them because they sometimes sort things out - everyone’s nerves are shattered because of such a life. Any expression of dissatisfaction with the administration (for example, because of poor nutrition) is punished in the same way with blows. A special theme is the ban on lying down or sitting from wake up to lights out. Violation of this prohibition is also beaten. Moreover, executions suit everyone indiscriminately.
“In order for my daughter to tell the Russian media what kafirs need, she was hit hard on the head”
- What kind of Ira did grandmother see?
“Very emaciated and pale, covered in pimples. The daughter quietly told her grandmother that representatives of the Russian media came to visit her. In order for her to tell them what the infidels need, Ira was hit hard on the head.
- When Ira was evacuated from Mariupol last year, did she go through the so-called filtration procedure?
“I did, and it was terrible.
- Eat?
- The check was carried out, as they say in Russian, “with prejudice.” In the tent in which it was held, Irina was placed facing the wall, one of the invaders put a gun to her head and called out monsters like himself: “Who wants to look at Navalny’s daughter ?!” She was forced to stand facing the wall for two hours.
Ira was severely interrogated: “Now tell me, who serves in your Azov?”, “Who do you know there?” For them, “Azov” is now like a red rag for a bull. And then, in the spring of last year, the Russians simply hunted everyone who was somehow connected with this regiment. Unfortunately, the freaks managed to identify the families of some of the Azov people. These families were shot.
- Did you try to convince the invaders not to mock Irina?
“Then I wasn’t there. She evacuated along with our neighbors. They left the city and stood in line for eight days to undergo filtration in the village of Bezymianny. Just then, the invaders were taking civilians out of Azovstal. They were also skipped due to the filtration procedure. Therefore, for the rest, the test was suspended. First, the evacuees from Azovstal were filtered (they were taken to Russia), and then resumed for the rest, so they had to wait so long.
After what she had experienced in the filtration camp, Ira returned to me in Mariupol and said: “Mom, you won’t pass the filtration, because you are the wife of a military man.”
— How did you manage to escape from the occupied city?
- For money, this is not a secret, there is corruption. In Donetsk, we bought a certificate of filtration for me and managed to leave before the occupiers found out that my husband was a military man.
Read on “Censor.NET”: At the words about the National Guard, the Russians’ eyes widened: the wife of the defender of Azovstal spoke about the occupation and interrogations
— Can you name the price, if possible?
- Only transportation cost 52 thousand hryvnia. Two thousand - a certificate of filtration. Plus, another 5,000 hryvnias are expenses for a three-day stay in Donetsk, because there were days off in connection with the holidays.
The carriers have a whole conspiratorial system: at each border you get off one bus, transfer to another. It should be understood that after all, this is a kind of roulette: no one gives you any guarantees.
- As I understand it, you were traveling in Russia?
— Yes, we left Donetsk for the Russian Federation. From there, in a roundabout way - through the Baltic countries, Poland - they returned to Ukraine.
— How did Irina dare to leave for the occupied Mariupol after what she experienced during the filtration?
- My grandmother, who is already over 70 years old, stayed there herself. Irinka is her only granddaughter. Grandma’s son (my daughter’s father) is no longer alive. Grandmother wrote via Telegram almost every evening: “Irochka, maybe you will come. We have already been given a light that connects the water. Come visit me.” Everything is like that. Irina even asked me to talk to my grandmother, because she demanded too much attention.
It turned out that my colleague went from Krivoy Rog to Mariupol for documents and happily returned. Then Irochka’s friend also visited Mariupol without any problems, took her animals from there. These, and perhaps other similar examples, prompted Ira to decide on a trip to her hometown herself - not only to visit her grandmother, but also to try to find her two cats, who escaped during the Russian bombing of Mariupol in March last year, and also to pick up some your things.
- A friend gave her the coordinates of the carrier with whom she traveled to Mariupol, - Alexandra continues. - His daughter contacted him, and he began to take away. In addition, Irinka gave confidence and the fact that she nevertheless passed the filtration and has the appropriate certificate. It is also important that we have different surnames with her.
Is it important because your husband is in the military?
- Exactly. Therefore, the fact that Irinka and I have different surnames matters in this situation.
- Did you try to dissuade your daughter from going to the occupied territory?
- Still tried hard! But then she was already 24 years old - she considered herself an adult. She was always near me, but she tried very hard to prove that she seemed to be very independent. (smiles sadly).
- When exactly did Irina go to visit her grandmother?
- Last September. They arrested him on September 27th. So, in captivity in terrible conditions, she has been nine months.
- On the day when she was arrested in Mariupol, did you feel that your daughter was in trouble?
“You know, I didn’t feel anything like that then. As a rule, we contacted her closer to dinner - she began to send me photographs, write what she was doing, consulted what surviving things to pick up from our Mariupol apartment. On September 27, Ira suddenly did not get in touch. Of course, I started to worry. I turned to my grandmother. She replied that Ira probably went to our apartment.
How did you know she was arrested?
- On the same day, in the evening, the RIA-Novosti propaganda channel aired a story about the arrest of her daughter with a video recording of a fragment of the interrogation. This TV report was sent to me at about six in the evening by a friend who wrote: Sasha, what about Ira? That’s how I got the terrible news.
- What accusation did the occupiers bring to your daughter?
- This is not an accusation, but nonsense: to arrest for “an attempt to commit a terrorist attack.” Just then, at the end of September, pseudo-referendums were held in the occupied territories of Ukraine. So Ira was accused of trying to detonate explosives near some institution.
The daughter was brought to her grandmother in handcuffs, everything in the apartment was turned over to the mountain with a shudder - they did a search. Then they searched my Mariupol apartment.
- Have Irina been officially charged?
- Yes, the official charge of attempted terrorist attack. They probably organize a trial and use it for propaganda.
- When the great war began, did your husband serve in Mariupol?
- Yes, in Mariupol. He participated in the defense of the city - as part of the military unit number 3057 (12th brigade) of the National Guard of Ukraine. From “Azovstal” together with his brothers he was taken prisoner. According to available information, he is now in a colony in Gorlovka. Therefore, I seek the dismissal of both my relatives at once. I am assisted in this by all Ukrainian state structures, whose competence includes the implementation of such tasks. We even managed to get through to many relevant bodies of Russia and the so-called DPR, in particular, to the head of the Donetsk pre-trial detention center. Who surprises and outrages me more is the functionaries of the International Red Cross: having considerable powers and opportunities, they take a surprisingly passive position, in fact, violate the Charter of their organization, which is designed to save people, and not produce replies.
Earlier published a frank story of a civil Ukrainian Roman Zhugan about what he experienced in 11 months in Russian prisons.
Source: Fakty
I am Joseph Zeman, a journalist who mostly covers world news for the Daily News Hack. I pride myself on being able to find and report stories that others might miss. I have a knack for being able to see both sides of every issue and this allows me to provide readers with well-rounded stories. In addition to my work as a journalist, I am also an author and have written several books on current affairs.
