Serhii Khrypun

Serhii Khrypun

Date of abduction: March 24, 2022

Place of abduction: Nove village, Zaporizhzhia region

Serhii Khrypun is a resident of Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region. Before the full-scale war, the man worked as a security guard at an agricultural company in the village of Nove, a half-hour drive from his home. On February 22, 2022, Serhii went there for a week-long shift, but the village was under occupation two days later. Russian troops entered the agricultural company where Khrypun worked and set up a headquarters, a field kitchen, and a hospital. In addition, the company hid broken equipment.

Serhii wanted to leave for Ukraine’s territory, but he had no documents. The Russians would not let him through without a passport, so Khrypun and his two colleagues stayed at the company.

The man was constantly in touch with his family, calling them. On March 24, his daughter Yulia received news from her father. He said the enemy soldiers had left but called again a few hours later. He said that two Russian KAMAZ trucks had arrived at his workplace and suggested that the Russian military wanted to take away supplies and equipment.

After that, the connection with Serhiy Khripun disappeared. For two days, his family tried to find out what happened to him. Finally, the company’s management reported that the occupiers had captured Khrypun and two other workers. CCTV cameras recorded the military searching the company’s territory, putting the three men face down on the ground, and then putting them in cars and taking them to an unknown destination.

Yulia only knows what happened next from the stories of other Ukrainian prisoners who managed to return home. According to them, the Russians first held the prisoners in Tokmak and then in Melitopol. There, according to the released prisoners, the conditions were terrible. The prisoners were beaten and starved. Then, they were transferred to a colony in Olenivka, Donetsk region, and from there, they were taken to Kursk, Russia.

As Yulia found out, her father was tortured, and his ribs were broken. He was not provided with medical care.