RSF was also present during his calls to his family. An RSF staff accompanied him during his medical examination, which confirmed the physical mistreatment to which he was subjected, in particular, the bruising and other injuries to his legs where electric shocks were inflicted. The various parts of his account were corroborated by interviews with a member of his family, with one of his former fellow prisoners, and with two Radio France journalists. His account was taken down by senior staffs of RSF’s Advocacy and Assistance Department during several sessions on 17 and 18 March. RSF began looking for Nikita after being told by Radio France on 8 March that he was missing and, after his release, finally established contact with him via the Press Freedom Centre that has been opened in Lviv. And like any Ukrainian, he has been very worried about his family as the indiscriminate Russian bombardments have grown in intensity. Among the foreign reporters who have employed him, those contacted by RSF are unanimous: he is very professional, serious and competent. Last month, the IT company that employs him began having problems because of the war, so he started working fulltime as a fixer, this time with Radio France. The media outlets he has worked for include France 2, BFMTV and RFI. Although trained as a lawyer and manager, Nikita has worked intermittently as a fixer and interpreter for foreign media since 2013.

Safe (for the time being) in a Ukrainian town, Nikita told RSF about his nine days of horror. Nikita’s account is frightening : machine-gunning of his car, torture with a knife and electricity, repeated beatings with rifle butts and steel bars in the face and body, mock execution, food deprivation for 48 hours… This man (the name was changed for security reasons) was detained alone before being joined by three other prisoners, including a former senior Ukrainian civil servant. Held captive for 9 days, left in an icy cellar, he was repeatedly tortured.

A week after the facts, RSF reveals the shocking account of a 32 years old Ukrainian fixer and interpreter, who was taken prisoner by Russian soldiers on March 5 in central Ukraine.

Rus captured guys