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A Ukrainian man claims he was tied up, beaten and electrocuted during the Russian occupation of his village.
But Andrii Matiazh, 46, did not abuse him directly, claiming that it was the local Ukrainian police who changed allegiance.
“Somebody tortured me,” he said from his home, about four miles from Ukraine’s border with Russia.
“They were in the police force before the invasion, and then they turned to the Russian side.”
Ukraine has accused Russian troops of using torture in areas under their control, saying more than 10 torture chambers have been found in newly liberated areas of the country’s northeastern Kharkiv region.
But Mr Matthiage’s remarks help illustrate an additional challenge.
Not only do authorities have to investigate alleged war crimes by Russian aggressors, including torture, murder and rape, they also need to be wary of Ukrainian collaborators.
Over the past two weeks, Ukrainian forces have retaken towns and villages as far as the Russian border, including some crossings.
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But they have yet to secure peace and the risk of Russian shelling at a border crossing on Sunday was deemed so high that Sky News was told the visit was too dangerous.
However, we were able to spend time with Mr. Mattiazh in his village, surrounded by fields and hills that form the edge of this part of Ukraine and the entrance to Russia.
The smiling, slim man lives with his wife and two of his three sons, aged 16 and 11. Their 29-year-old eldest son, who shares the same name as his father, serves in the army as part of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces.
“I feel pleasure and pain at the same time”
Andrii Matiazh Junior takes us on a tour of this humble single-storey home. For the first time after the Russian retreat, he was able to venture back to hug his parents just days.
They try to describe that moment.
“My heart is turned upside down [with joy]’ said his mother, Lyubov, 46.
Her military son said: “I feel happiness and pain at the same time, you can’t understand these feelings, it’s indescribable.”
“I was shaking for 30 minutes”
Given their village’s proximity to the border, the parents took a front-line seat in a full-scale Russian invasion on February 24.
“I saw jets, helicopters flying very low, they would go between two yards,” the mother said.
“I was shaking for 30 minutes. My youngest was hysterical.”
They said Russian soldiers were in charge of the nearest town, Vovshansk, while those in charge of the villages were from parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which have been under Russia since Moscow first invaded in 2014. under control.
Russian passport
The couple said residents of their village were given Russian passports.
“We didn’t accept it, but most of the civilians took their passports,” Liu Bofu said. “I believe they did it out of fear.”
The couple also claimed that Russian soldiers and their proxies would steal from property in the area.
It fueled a climate of mistrust and abuse that took a toll on the family two days before a Ukrainian counter-offensive reached their region earlier this month.
“I have bruises”
The father said he was told to go to a building behind the local town courthouse.
He said five people working under Russian occupation were involved, including a distant relative.
“They took me to the second floor. I was punched three or four times in the face,” he said.
“Then they tied my hands behind my back, took off my shoes and socks, and used a wire to connect the little fingers on my hands to my feet. They put me down and started giving me electric shocks.”
He said he was also blindfolded.
At one point, another type of charge was used on his legs – there are still marks on one of his thighs.
“The capillaries in my eyes collapsed and my eyes turned red. I had bruises. When they hit me in the face after the electricity, I didn’t even feel anything,” said senior Mr Mattiaz.
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“I know our soldiers are coming”
He said he was being questioned over a local theft that had nothing to do with him.
It went on for two hours before he was told he would be released but had to return information within days – a threat the father believed meant he needed to be an informant or face more torture.
After returning home, he and his wife negotiated to escape, but the money was not enough.
“I decided to hide somewhere in the bushes, in abandoned houses, and wait for our soldiers. I knew our soldiers were coming,” he said.
He believes the subsequent counteroffensive saved his life.
“All the bad cops fled to Russia,” said his eldest son.
Asked how he felt after hearing his father describe the torture and conditions in the village during the occupation, Andre Jr. said: “It’s creepy and terrifying.”
He wondered if his ties to the military might have been a reason why his father was targeted, noting that some of his classmates had joined the police and knew he was a soldier. “I’m not blaming anyone, but someone… betrayed me,” he said.
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