She fell to her knees begging not to take her husband and son away – story of civilian hostages detained by occupiers in Dymer

Civilian hostages, Maksym and Danylo Manukhin, were illegally detained by the occupiers in March 2022 in Dymer, Kyiv region. At first, the father and son (he was 20 years old at the time of the arrest) were kept in the premises of the “VIKNALAND” window factory in Dymer, and then they were taken to russia.

At the country’s main discussion platform BrainHub at Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform, Olha Manukhina, mother and wife of the civilian hostages, told what the russian military had done when they had broken into their house, and what she currently knows about the fate of her relatives.

“On March 10, 2022, soldiers of the russian federation broke into our house, they climbed over the fence, searched the entire yard, searched the house, checked all phones. They made my son undress almost completely to look at his body because he has tattoos. They scared a small child, I am the mother of a large family, we have three children, and the youngest was 2.5 years old at the time.

They didn’t find anything in our house, but the russian soldiers didn’t like something in our son’s phone, I don’t know what was in the phone. I begged and asked, I fell to my knees, I begged not to take my husband and my son away. They simply said: “We will take them in for questioning and bring them back in two hours.” They put them in a BTR (an armored personnel carrier – Ed.) and did not bring them back. As of now, I still have not seen my husband and son. I know that they are on the territory of the russian federation, because the ICRC has confirmed that they are in captivity.

On March 23, 2022, they were transported to the territory of Belarus. I just know the timeline of where and how they were transported, because those people who were released from captivity just told us, and people talked to them, saw them. Therefore, I am sure that they are alive.

First, they were transferred to the territory of Belarus, and then from Belarus they were taken to pre-trial detention center No. 2, Novozybkov, Bryansk. Then they were taken to Crimea, they stayed in Crimea, I don’t know for how long. But I am sure that they were in the Crimea, because the husband wrote a letter from there. The letter was long, it said that they are alive, their son and husband are always together, they receive food and clothing, have bed linen, read books, watch TV, have a shower – just like “paradise.” And then they were transported to Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region. I also know this from a released prisoner.

I haven’t heard any information about them for almost a year.”

According to the woman, the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross say that they didn’t talk with her husband and son in person, did not see them, and all the information is provided to them by russia.

When a woman applies to the ICRC, she does not receive any information about her husband and son, because they tell her that “they don’t know anything and they don’t have any such information.”

BrainHub is the country’s main discussion platform created by Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform. It brings together experts from the state and civil society sectors. BrainHub hosts intellectual discussions around the issues of the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. It’s the birthplace of the best ideas that will become the foundation for the road map of Ukraine’s reconstruction in all sectors: economy, infrastructure, education, agriculture, security, digital, etc.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news