Oleksandr Novatskyi
Oleksandr Novatskyi
Date of abduction: July 14, 2022
Place of abduction: local market in Kherson
Oleksandr Novatskyi worked in the police of Kherson region. Therefore, the occupiers actively searched for the man and came for him several times. Once, Oleksandr managed to escape through a window. After that, the family had to hide, but the Russians kept looking for them. Once, they came when Novytskyi’s wife Nadiya and son Rodion were in the apartment.
The occupants were prepared, they knew everything about the family: contacts, grandmother’s disability, the cat’s name, etc. Nadiya was interrogated, threatened, and hit in the jaw with a machine gun, and the apartment was searched. Her son was crying, he was 10 years old at the time. The Russian military gave him a real gun to play with to calm the boy down.
Oleksandr was detained when his family left the city. It happened on July 14, 2022, near his home in Kherson’s local market. He was beaten and taken to a local detention center, where he was held for about a month. According to the released prisoners, the man was tortured, and at times they were not sure whether Novatsky would live to see the morning.
Several times, the Russians took Oleksandr and went to his home, where they filmed propaganda videos. Through his makeup, you can see bruises on his face and an eye slightly covered with a trickle of blood
Later, the man was brought to Simferopol to SIZO No. 2. He is still there. At first, he was charged with “terrorism,” but no charges were ever brought against him. Despite the harsh conditions of detention, regular beatings, and health problems, Oleksandr did not break morally. Witnesses say he often reads and refuses to accept Soviet propaganda in books.
“They say he has lost much weight and reads a lot. But if he sees a book about the USSR, he says: “Next one.” That is, he keeps his character. I don’t know how long this will last. I don’t know how he is doing now either. The last time I received news about him was in April 2024,” says his wife, Nadiia.
This publication was compiled with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. It’s content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the International Renaissance Foundation.
