Yesterday at 18:58
“First of all, we have a wedding to organize. His fiancé is right here.”
Oleksandr’s fiance – Natalya Podlazko – says they had to postpone the wedding due to the war in Donbas
NATALYA PODLAZKO | FIANCÉE OF OLEKSANDR MOROZOV
“When is the wedding? Soon I hope. If he still wants to marry me.”
……………………………………………
Hello. Sasha. Dima. Nice to meet you. Well, shall we start? Yes
Oleksandr worked as a welder before being mobilized into the 57th Motorized Infantry Brigade. He was deployed to Donetsk International Airport.
OLEKSANDR MOROZOV | FORMER PRISONER OF WAR
“The separatists were really hostile at that time. They had two large-caliber machine guns pointing at the road and artillery as well. We came under heavy shelling. One vehicle never made it out. It caught fire and burnt. The vehicle we were in just left the road. We all stepped out. I was covering the whole group while the rest of them were deciding what to do next. In the end we came under mortar shelling.”
Oleksandr was wounded. He laid unconscious near the vehicle for 48 hours.
OLEKSANDR MOROZOV | FORMER PRISONER OF WAR
“I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t know where my friends or enemies were. That day was really foggy. That is what probably saved me”
Oleksandr says he walked to the suburbs of Donetsk and hid there for two weeks. He then went to the railway station to catch a ride home – but got stopped by a patrol.
OLEKSANDR MOROZOV | FORMER PRISONER OF WAR
“They stopped me to check my documents. I told them I didn’t have any documents and they started searching me. They found my military identity card, made me kneel and called for the vehicle. While they were waiting for the vehicle, I got up and ran away.”
Oleksandr kept walking around Donetsk for another 24 hours. On the night of February 4th 2015, he tried to hide in the Olympiyskyi sport complex.
OLEKSANDR MOROZOV | FORMER PRISONER OF WAR
“The separatists heard the sound of the glass breaking and came for me. They caught me, beat me up and interrogated me. At first, they thought I was just a looter. But when they found out I was a serviceman in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. they started beating me up even more. They kept beating me up until my eyes were swollen. My whole body was swollen”
Oleksandr was then locked up in a garage.
OLEKSANDR MOROZOV | FORMER PRISONER OF WAR
“It was February. It was -15 degrees outside. I was sleeping on the floor and covered myself with insulation material”
A month later, Oleksandr was taken to a building formerly belonging to Ukraine’s Security Service. He was put in the basement there, where this footage was filmed. That’s when Oleksandr’s relatives first learned he was still alive
NATALYA PODLAZKO | FIANCÉE OF OLEKSANDR MOROZOV
“On that video, he was laying down. We were afraid that something had happened to his legs. It became clear that if they filmed him, he would be kept alive.“
Oleksandr was later allowed to phone home.
OLEKSANDR MOROZOV | FORMER PRISONER OF WAR
“I called my dad. When my mom realized that it was me on the phone she just started screaming. She couldn’t talk – she just screamed“
The welding skills Oleksandr learn’t over four years ago quickly came back to him.
It took him only three hours to create a present for his fiancé Natalya.
OLEKSANDR MOROZOV | FORMER PRISONER OF WAR
“This is for you my love! “
Report by Andriy Yakovyn
