He can be seen walking away from soldiers on top of an armored vehicle, his hands in the air. At this point, a Russian soldier was driving Mykhailo’s car – which was recording the arrest in real time. “The first thing I thought about was how to survive. The second thing was I was going to die,” he told Sky News. Images from his camera were later released in Russia and posted online by a Russian journalist. Image: The attack was caught on camera by Mykhailo Orlovskyi After his arrest, he describes how he was stripped of his clothes and glasses and taken to a densely wooded area. “They beat us in the forest, started interrogating us, then tied us up and threw us into a pit where they kept us for two days,” he told us. It was March 7 – and bitterly cold. “They threw a jacket at me, which they then tied up. I was only wearing a jacket and sweatpants, and that was it. But thank goodness the jacket at least had a hood. “At the bottom, cardboard was thrown into the pit, and there were also two boxes you could sit on.” Russia threatens NATO and EU member: Live all the events unfolding in the Ukraine war Mykhailo was a civilian taxi driver, but he was helping the Ukrainian army as a volunteer. After two days in the hole in the woods, he was airlifted to a prison in Kursk, Russia. “We were taken from office to office, from interrogation to interrogation. “We constantly had to sign documents, they interrogate us, they beat us. “Everything took about six hours. They took us to a separate room, where they beat us with boxing gloves on the kidneys, liver, ribs, neck and legs. “They were also using a stun gun. They hit us so hard.” Image: Mykhailo Orlovskyi talks to Sky’s Sally Lockwood Read more: Hit, hit, hit destroy: Russia’s scare tactics It describes how all male and female prisoners had their heads shaved, blood samples, DNA and fingerprints taken. “They took my phone, even my wedding ring,” she says. “They took all my documents…passport, driver’s license. All this is still with them.” Almost 500 Ukrainian citizens are currently in Russian prisons. Mykhailo was inside for four weeks in total before being traded in a prisoner exchange in April. During his imprisonment, he was forced to sing the Russian national anthem which was played on repeat. “There was a radio, a speaker hanging on the door. And when the anthem played, and it played around 10-15 times a day, we had to line up and sing the anthem of the Russian Federation.” Mother’s best birthday present Meanwhile in Ukraine, Mykhailo’s family was sick with worry about what had happened to him. After two weeks, they finally found a Russian mugshot taken after his arrest that had been posted online. When Mykhailo learned he was to be traded in a prisoner exchange, he sobbed on the three-hour drive to the border. It was April 10 – his mother’s birthday. “I called her and said that everything is fine with me, that I am alive and well. I remember her tears of joy. She was happy that God would give her such a gift for her birthday.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 4:50 Russia steps up its offensive in eastern Ukraine Recalling this, she bursts into tears and has to stop. Finally he continues: “A very difficult moment was when I was talking to my brother and he told me that there was a moment when he thought I had already died, that I was no longer there. It’s hard even now.” Still under processing Mykhailo has since returned to where he was taken. His personal belongings were still on the ground – his glasses case, his AirPods, his business cards. He also found his Mercedes car – now completely burnt out, but the serial number was still visible. Without his car, he has lost his livelihood. It’s clear that starting over financially is taking a heavy toll on him. That, coupled with the harrowing ordeal he’s clearly still processing. But he managed to escape with an important message for the world about the horrors for Ukrainian civilians in Russia.
