Today at 20:12
It’s been only two weeks since the 21-year-old was freed. Since then he has been undergoing treatment in Feofania Clinical Hospital in Kyiv. Our UATV film crew decided to add variety to his day and invited him to the Veteran Hub. On the way over there, we talked about a life of freedom. Panov smiled and with genuine enthusiasm talked about the places he’s already visited.
“I was on the Maidan, on Khreshchatyk. I had a trip on the metro. What’s the big deal about riding the metro?! It feels like I’m back in civilization. I saw people. That’s already a kind of happiness,” Panov said.
And for the first time, he saw Kyiv from above.
“The view is very beautiful!” Panov said.
Sitting on a wide comfortable window-sill, the freed political prisoner recalls his cell unwittingly.
“It was very uncomfortable there. It was so small … Everything was crammed in. A bed, a table, a bench, a window, a toilet, and a washbasin,” Panov said.
In Russia, Panov was accused of planning a terrorist act. In 2015, he was traveling from occupied Luhansk to Kyiv through the Russian city of Rostov. He was kidnapped on the street. After a trial on trumped-up charges, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
“I was not going to kill civilians and place explosives in a train station, as they claimed. They had to prove that I was planning not sabotage, but a terrorist act,” Panov said.
Panov recalls imprisonment with horror.
“For example, prison officials could take away a mattress. I had to sleep on an iron bunk. In February 2016, it was very cold. There was no heating. My kidneys became inflamed. It was so painful that I could not even get up,” Panov said.
A doctor was not allowed to examine Panov. They thought he was faking. The unbearable pain led him to a desperate act.
“I cut my arm so they would see it on the video camera. I dismantled a razor and cut my arm with the blade. I have three scars. I had no other choice,” Panov said.
Panov’s way home began on Aug. 27. He was transferred to Moscow and from there to Kyiv. On the day of the prisoner exchange, he could not contain his emotions.
“I could not believe that it was finally over. My heart was beating like crazy. Very, very fast. The feeling when the plane was landing in Kyiv was beyond words. It was amazing!” Panov said.
At Boryspil airport, Panov was met by his mother – she came from the occupied Donbas.
“Mom cried a lot … There were no words, there was laughter despite the tears,” he said.
Today, Panov remembers everything he experienced with a smile. After all, he is now free.
“Now I feel more or less well. I am ready for great things, work, and study. I want to connect my life with military affairs. I do not want this to be purely military. I also want a focus on politics,” Panov said.
Before the war started in the east of Ukraine, Panov wrote poetry. In prison, he started writing prose. However, the manuscript was destroyed. Now he wants to restore the book from memory and give it a new life.
