Vitaliy Kuznetsov

Vitaliy Kuznetsov

Date of disappearance: April 12, 2022

Place of disappearance: Mariupol, Donetsk region

Vitaliy Kuznetsov is a resident of the village of Pryshyb, Bashtanka district, Mykolaiv region. He worked as a school bus driver. On February 26, 2022, along with other drivers from the Mykolaiv region, he was tasked with transporting mobilized soldiers to the Donetsk region. In a convoy of four buses, Kuznetsov arrived in Mariupol but could not leave because Russian troops surrounded him. Enemy troops were continuously shelling Mariupol with artillery and aircraft. Civilian drivers were forced to hide from the shelling on the territory of the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works. As long as he had the opportunity, Vitaliy Kuznetsov contacted his family and told them what was happening to them.

“They were hiding in the hangars where their buses were parked. His bus was damaged when a shell hit the hangar. After March 16, 2022, Vitaliy said that it became worse. It was impossible even to go out to get water. They were being shelled with various types of weapons,” says Margarita, Vitaliy’s sister.

The drivers had no food or water supplies. The last time he got in touch was on April 4, 2022. On April 18, his family saw a video on social media that drivers from Mykolaiv region had been captured by Russians along with the military. It turned out that Vitaliy Kuznetsov was captured on April 12, and Russian troops held him first in the Olenivska colony, then transferred him to the pre-trial detention center in Ryazhsk. Ryazhsk in the Ryazan region. His last known place of detention is a prison in Mordovia. His parents and sister are waiting for him in Ukraine.