Vladimir Kotenko and Aleksey Grebnev, residents of the Crimea, told the Public Committee on Rights of People Suffered during the Antimaidan:
‘We arrived in Kiev as activists at night from February 18 to 19. They blocked the road to Kiev was, felt trees, piled up branches and broke out a road sign. The bus slowed down to drive this heap around and the people who were waiting there began to hurdle stones into the buss, they broke a wind glass at the driver’s side. We were let enter Kiev and left buses in Mariinsky Park. We could hear gun shots and explosions from the Maidan for the whole night.
In the morning February 20 we learnt that a crowd was approaching to us and we had to pack our belongings. All women were taken to the Arsenalnaya underground station while men were asked to stand as a human shield in front of the camp. In front of us a chain of Berkut officers stood, they were unarmed and had only shields. We were to protect buses and then to go to the gates and block the road.
After a while we saw our buses drive away with people inside. We heard shots and saw people running from the Maidan not only with sticks and bludgeons but also with assault rifles. We managed to jump into a vehicle in time.
The road leading from Kiev was blocked. A combine stood on the road and some people burnt tyres.
We went out of the buses and the crowd moved towards us. They shouted and swore. They called us ‘titushky’ (armed young men supporting the police) and ‘moskaly’ (‘Russians’, offensive). They asked us why we actually came. They threw in us, human beings, Molotov cocktails. We wanted to drive away, tried to talk to them and explain that we headed for home, but they didn’t let us go. A fight started. Our chief stepped forward to negotiate with them but somebody hit him with a head on the face and it began to bleed.
They went on hurling bottles with incendiary substance into us. We heard a few shots – the people from the checkpoint started to shoot into the crowd and I saw immediately some guys bearing a wounded man who had also been in our buss. We realized that it was time to go away. The road lay under a bridge and they tossed stoned into the autocade from it. By that time one one the side windows had already been broken.
It was darkening.
We drove up to Korsun-Shevchenkovsky village in the Cherkassk Region. They blocked the buses. Young men stood along the road keeping bottles with Molotov cocktail. They broke windows in our bus and threw Molotov cocktails inside. A fellow beside me grasped a bottle which had flown into the window and threw it back, but got a burn of his hand. They shouted us to throw out weapon but we had nothing except small sticks and helmets. We flung them out. Then they told us to get off and promised not to beat but if we refused they would burn us alive in the buses. We went out one by one. In front of the buses rows of people stood with bludgeons and steel fittings. They beat up each of us. Injured people were tossed to the roadside with faces down to the ground.
They shouted to us, ‘Bastards, why have you come?’ Juveniles beat also those who were already lying. Adult men pulled them back, saying ‘These ones have already got enough, run further, there are more buses there’. They kicked us with legs and told each other, ‘Cut their ears off and burn them alive.’
Then they raised us one by one, searched over, broke our phones. They were looking for weapon. Then they tossed us down and kicked again. People from the Crimea were beaten by ordinary residents but a man with a Kalashnikov assault rifle stood nearby.
When all were checked they made us stand up and run (and those who could not run were forced to creep) back through the rows of people with bludgeons and metal twigs to their buses. We were to sing the Ukrainian anthem and shout ‘Hail Ukraine!’, while we were beaten again.
In the buses the made us lie down on the glass. Our vehicle was completely damaged and wheels were torn into pieces. They took us to a field by the buses within 10 kilometers from the village. And left us there. It was dark and cold. Nearly all were wounded, some of us more severe than others.’
‘I have only bruises, so I didn’t apply to the police,’ said Vladimir.
‘My head is also injured,’ said Aleksey. ‘I determined to join self-defence to prevent provocations in the Crimea. They menaced to come here, to put a place in order and clean the Crimea of kotsaps (Russians, offensive).’
Source: the information is provided by the Public Committee on Rights of People Suffered during the Antimaidan.
