Yuri Merkutan is a saxophonist and was drafted into the Ukrainian National Guard in 2020 to play in the military band. In February 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine begins, Yuri is called into action, like the other fifteen members of the squad. A month later, the musician was arrested in the siege of the city of Mariupol and taken prisoner along with more than two thousand Ukrainians in Russia.
Yuri was released in January this year and in an interview with WatchmanHe says that he was subjected to physical and psychological attacks, and that during his 20-month imprisonment, he lost about 60 kilograms of weight.
“I tried to explain that I’m a musician, but it didn’t work. You say you’re a musician and it upsets them so much that they hit you even more,” Yuri explained.
The musician said he was initially transferred with other prisoners to exhume the bodies of those killed in the Mariupol bombings. During this period, Yuri Mirkutan felt unwell several times, suffering from diarrhea and barely being able to eat. He was then blindfolded and taken to a prison in Russia, where he was prohibited from sitting or lying down between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Moreover, I always listened to the same radio shows. Mercutan also pointed out Watchman He was attacked by guards with batons, and sometimes with electric shocks. Throughout the period of captivity, the musician was transferred from prison several times.
In addition to physical attacks, the saxophonist said prisoners were forced to recite poems apologizing and disparaging Ukraine.
“There is no Ukraine without Russia. It is as useless as a lock without a key,” Yuri recalls, quoting lines from a poem.
According to the WatchmanSeveral Ukrainian human rights groups reported identical testimonies provided by several prisoners who were being held in Russia.
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