"I don't understand why." A child hostage from the Russian military

Three weeks ago, the head of the Zaporizhzhya district state administration of the Zaporizhzhya region of Ukraine Oleg Buryak learned that the Russian military was holding his 16-year-old son hostages. In the first days after the incident, the Ukrainian official tried to agree on the release of the child. Negotiations did not bring the result, and Oleg Buryak decided to publicly tell about what had happened. He recorded a video message and put it on Facebook.

Oleg Buryak is from Tomsk, where he lived the first 12 years of his life. In Russia, relatives live in him. In an interview with Radio Liberty, the head of the Zaporizhzhya district administration tells not only about the circumstances of the captivity of his son and about the conditions in which he is held, but also about his life in Russia and Ukraine, as well as how he perceives the war that began on February 24.

I can't find a person who is ready to exchange my son for

- Vlad I have a son from my first marriage, so he lived in Melitopol, I live in Zaporozhye. When the war began, Vlad with his mother and the younger sister were in Melitopol. They did not want to leave, because Vladik’s mother Ali Ameetovich was in Vladik's mother’s lines, and he was at the fourth stage, so they decided that they would be with his grandfather to the last, and then they would leave Melitopol. As the events developed, I called each time and insisted that at least the children still leave, and in the end on April 1, I managed to take out the younger sister of Vlad, my daughter, together with my mother, and then on April 8 at 5:45, grandfather Vladik died. Already at eight in the morning, immediately, I organized the export of Vlad. At eleven, the car was on the checkpoint between the Melitopopol and Zaporozhye, in Vasilyevka. This is the last checkpoint in front of our checkpoint. The column with private transport was stopped, and the Russian military went from the car to the car, with each driver they talked about who, where and why went, checked the documents. In the car in which Vladik was traveling, there were two women at the wheel, there were minor children from behind, among whom was Vlad. Vladik was sitting in the back seat and playing on the phone. When the military came up and began to talk with women, he noticed that Vladik had a telephone in his hands, and he told him: "Are you shooting me?" Naturally, everyone in the car immediately said: "No one takes off, the child is just playing on the phone, like all children." Then he demanded to give the phone. Between Vlad and the Russian military, a skirmish arose, as a result of which the military took the phone and saw downloaded videos there. When the war had just begun, in the first weeks a video of Russian prisoners of war were published, who were given the phone, and they called their relatives and friends from Russia, talked about what was happening in Ukraine, and asked to help them somehow take them out of captivity. These videos were on the phone. They did not like the Russian military, and Vlad was pulled out of the car and took it to the cafe nearby. The car in which he was driving was held for another three hours. They identified me when they carefully studied the documents. He is recorded - Buryak Vladislav Olegovich. Accordingly, on the Internet you can calmly google the "Buryak Oleg" - and it is immediately displayed who I am. So they had an increased interest in their son. When they did not find evidence of women's involvement in me, they demanded that they leave with the children. Women said: "We will not go without Vlad." Then they began to threaten: "If you do not leave now, we will delay you too." Well, women saved their children, and they went on the route. And Vlad remained with the military of the Russian army.

Oleg Buryak with children in Zaporozhye

- Your son had a mobile phone. Have you tried to call on this phone, contact your son?

- When they were only stopped, the woman who was driving phoned. The fact is that I really did not know these people, my friend knew them, who in Melitopol put Vladik in the car to his good close friends. Therefore, when the question arose of his evacuation, he recommended them to me, and I said: "Well, let's try." It was just that Vladik was supposed to leave the Hum Konvoy, which was organized from Zaporozhye to Melitopol. Buses went there, they had to unload food and medicines, and take people who want to leave the occupied territory on the way back. And Vladislav was supposed to leave the convoy in this. But when Gumkondva came to Melitopol and he was unloaded, the local self -proclaimed government decided to simply confiscate the buses. Because of this, the convoy, of course, did not go anywhere. That is, they allocated only one bus, plunged all drivers into it, and said: "Leave from here." But since the convoy was previously agreed upon by the Russian side and our side, negotiations began that the conditions were not respected: since the buses were sent, they should return. These bidding went for a long time, so it was decided not to wait, but to take Vlad.

- After your son was detained, did you have the opportunity to talk to him?

-So that you understand: already for today the 18th day, as it is held in captivity. On the 18th day, my son sits in the cell. A minor sixteen -year -old child sits in a cell for prisoners. During this time, I had the opportunity to communicate with my son twice, and twice had the opportunity to chat with him his mother.

“What did he say what was happening to him?”

- From what I can tell you, you understand that this is a very subtle moment ... The last time he said, we talked on Saturday on the eve of Easter, that on Friday he was given the opportunity to wash, to wash for the first time in this time. It is fed with drypakes and periodically give the opportunity to go outside, remove him for a walk. And he has a book, he was given a book, he reads.

Vladik Buryak

-And they set up any conditions for liberation?

- Yes, there are conditions. These certain conditions have come to a dead end, because I am not able to fulfill them. This is not money to immediately understand. If money, I would already look for this money and, I think, would have found. Therefore, since the negotiation process has come to a dead end, I decided to enter the public plane on the eighth day.

-That is, you do not see the opportunity to somehow free your son?

- For today, I do not see a way. The condition that was delivered to me, I still can’t fulfill. I cannot find a person who is ready to exchange my son for.

- Did you threaten you during these negotiations? The military know who you are?

- They know, but did not threaten. And what's the point of threatening? This is not some kind of chantrap from the street, these are serious people trained, so the point of throwing in words there, why? Here it is not necessary to explain anything to anyone, they have my son, and I am very aware of the degree of responsibility. I consider every word under a microscope: what can be said, what can not be said, what kind of act is to do so as not to harm my son. Here you weigh everything twenty times before doing or say something. And you are weighing twenty times what you can think about, but you don’t even want to think about.

- You have been engaged in politics in Melitopol for a long time. What is the situation now? And what is the situation in the Zaporizhzhya district that you are heading?

- I clearly share two things here. There is a situation with my son, and this is pain for me as a person, for my father. There is another, more global pain - this is the war that the state of Russia against the state of Ukraine unleashed. Moreover, unreasonably, all the accusations that are, the war is unleashed with cruelty and cynicism. There are losses that the Ukrainian people now carry, deprivation. Look, such cities as Mariupol, Volnovakha, there are serious battles in Nikolaev, in Kharkov. I see the reports how many people died. About 200 children in Mariupol were missing. How many more people who sit in the basements are in Mariupol. Here, in the Zaporizhzhya region, there are great battles in Orekhov. Citizens of Ukraine are constantly dying, and not only the military, but also in large numbers die the civilian population. We don’t even know how much exactly, because there are temporarily uncontrolled territories from which we get some kind of information, but we cannot yet check it in full. And we will still read the losses later. We have a certain number of missing families, torn families, when men remained to fight, and women and children went into the evacuation, some to Western Ukraine and who are generally in other countries. This is a tragedy! And as a leader I understand this pain, I see reports, and there is also a closed information that I see. Therefore, there are things in relation to which I simply have no right to give the opportunity to break through to emotions. Firstly, I need my son as a sane one coldly reasoning: with a hot heart, but with a cold mind. In the same way, I need the territory entrusted to me, my country, my area, my area, people live here. War is war, you can’t do anything here. Our task is to win as quickly as possible with minimal losses for both people and the whole country as a whole. This is a very difficult topic.

Zaporozhye before the war

- You say that there are battles in Orekhov. And what is the situation in Zaporozhye now? They constantly say that an attack on the city will begin. Or are you sure that the city will stand because there is a very strong defense?

- A huge, simply invaluable contribution to the defense of Zaporozhye and Zaporizhzhya district was made by the city of Mariupol, although the whole country, too. But Mariupol, which has been holding for two months, made it possible to create a very strong deep defense of the city of Zaporozhye, as well as the entire Zaporizhzhya district. And a low bow to the residents of Mariupol, all the servicemen who defended this city. Their great merit is that we had the opportunity to very seriously prepare for the defense of Zaporozhye. The second factor for Zaporozhye is, of course, the fact that it is, as it were, divided into two parts of the Dnieper river, the left and right bank. Thus, we have the opportunity to create several lines of defense of our city, which, of course, is also very difficult. If Russian invaders suddenly decide to go to Zaporozhye, then it will be the cost of huge losses for them. And there is also a friend and a neighbor like the city of the Dnieper, and the rear covers the city of Krivoy Rog. This is not a matter of optimism, this is a matter of a two -month work that we act here so that not a single extra centimeter is given and protect our inhabitants. We have no extra centimeters of Ukrainian land. But the enemy is very cynical. You see that he beats in residential quarters, he does not look at whether it is hospitals, kindergartens, schools, hits the sleeping areas. He does not hit only by critical infrastructure objects, but hits where people live. This is the top of cynicism. How can it be in the 21st century? I just don't understand. And the second is the explanation of this why? What is the goal? I was born in Tomsk, and the first 12 years of my life I lived there. I have a bunch of relatives in Siberia along my mother and daddy line. I don’t understand why this is all? So we were connected, more than 30 percent of the population of Ukraine was associated with relatives in Russia, and after these murders, after this war, which the Russian government unleashed, we will definitely not forgive. This cannot be forgiven, this is impossible. This is a terrible thing that is not clear why.

- You say that for two months Zaporozhye spent on defense. You want to say that when the invasion began, you were not ready from the point of view of defense to protect the city? You did not expect a war?

We have ended the time of land wars, we fight for economic markets

- We have a military, and I am a representative of civil power. The military dealt with their tasks. Do you think that the military devoted us to something? No. In the same way as we did not devote the military to their civilian problems. Everyone was doing his own business. This is the first. The second point, who believed in this? Yes, I saw publications in the Western media, they talked about a possible invasion. But to the last - honestly - did not believe. The question is why? I don't understand why. We have ended the time of land wars, we live in the 21st century, we fight for economic markets through competition - this is clear to me. We fight for financial markets due to competition in services, in costs, in price-quality offers. But to fight for the earth in the 21st century? Now, look, they prayed the whole southeast of Ukraine. Imagine how much money needs to be invested so that then it brings some income! And most importantly, because it is necessary to convince people in some way that they want to live in this territory. It’s scary to build on the bones there. In the same place, these cities, Russian aviation and artillery so ironed that even people are difficult to dig out of this land. And then someone should come to this place and live? On this blood, on these bones? These are terrible things. And why is this war? I don't understand - why? I don't understand. What's in the dry residue? What the Russian government, the Russian Empire will receive in a dry remnant? They have 140 million, their huge territory has not been populated. 12 million lives in Siberia, and there the territory is more than Ukraine, several times. And the Far East - how much is the population? Why Donetsk and Lugansk region, why Crimea? What is the problem for Russians to come to the Crimea to rest? Yes, not a problem at all! They provided services, did not look at nationality, they offered services for money. Please, here you have a number, you want it near the sea - more expensive, further from the sea - cheaper, here the restaurant is more expensive for you, here the cafe is cheaper. So everything was spinning, and what's the difference? Everyone came, who wanted, and rested, and there were no problems. What is the meaning of the conquests of some bit of the Earth? And there are so many people to kill, to break their families so much, to ruin all the relations that were once between Ukraine and Russia ... Why?! This is insanity, this is something wrong with the head. I still cannot understand. One person is killed - you cannot find excuses for this murder, but here the whole people are crippled. For what? I don't understand this.

- You probably communicate with your relatives in Tomsk. How do they evaluate what happened? And how do you assess the reaction to the war of those who live in Russia?

- I lived there, and I understand why this is happening. This is a huge territory, a small and poorly populated area. In order to go to the nearest sea, a resident of Tomsk needs to drive or fly four thousand kilometers. You understand that the average resident of this region cannot afford it. I ask my relatives: "Our Crimea?" - "Yes, ours." - "Have you been to the Crimea?" -"No"-"Why is he yours? You do not even know where this Crimea, you were not even there." In Siberia there are people who have lived all their lives in one place who have never traveled to the sea. And there are a lot of such people. And the most interesting thing is that after the Crimea was occupied, they never went there to rest, they did not have such an opportunity. It turns out, it turns out, inside the vast territory, in their local groups, and travel to rest, travel to a distance of 100 to 200 kilometers, 300 maximum. That is, for mushrooms, fishing, hunting, and all. And they only watch TV. That is, they are so limited within themselves, clamped, based on this vast territory, which, in principle, is shown, is enough for them. If at least the European part of the Russian Empire goes somewhere, travels around Europe, in America, someone to Africa, someone to India, looks at the world, then part from the Urals and further-there is generally another story. And the farther from the center, from Moscow and St. Petersburg, the fewer people really have their own opinion, a personal idea of abroad. Just because they were not there. And all that they know is from the media. Or what they told them at school. And now, if we see what teachers teach at school, what ideology, if we see Russian propagandists, you can go crazy. 20 years the same propaganda, nothing changes for 20 years, the same ideology. The first call was when the film "Brat-2" was released, this is "you will answer us for Sevastopol." This is 2004. That is, already in 2004, the Russian government, in the minds and plans of the military, formulated a strategic task of squeezing Crimea. And then through the TV, through feature films, through the militants began to drive the ideology into the minds of Russians, who Bender, what kind of Crimea, for Sevastopol should be answered. That is, then they were already preparing people who would then be thrown to pick up the territories with weapons in their hands. I have an interesting story about this. In 2009, Vlad was four years old, I went with him to Egypt to rest. And there in the hotel we met a young couple from St. Petersburg. By the way, he wrote to me as soon as the war began: "How are you?" He was a young guy then, we made friends with him in Egypt, he played well with my son and everything else. And now he has this topic all the time, that Bender, in Ukraine, are such, and “we will come and teach”, and so on. I say: "You are talking to me, and it feels like I am not from Ukraine." At that time I lived in Melitopol. I say: "I live Melitopol, in the Zaporizhzhya region. Do you play with my son. And you want to come to the house with a machine gun?" I look - he hung, fell silent. Я смотрю ему в глаза и говорю: "Я тебя приглашаю к себе в гости. Бери свою молодую жену, и приезжайте ко мне в гости. Я вам покажу город, поживешь у меня в доме и посмотришь на украинцев, какие они есть. И не надо ко мне приходить с автоматом". Прошло какое-то время, и он мне один раз написал в инстаграме, это был 2014 год, когда они только Крым оккупировали. Я тогда проигнорировал. И вот, когда 24 февраля пошли первые ракетные удары и начали двигаться войска, он мне через несколько дней опять написал в инстаграм: "Как дела?" Я сижу и думаю: это, с одной стороны, цинизм или что-то в его голове из тех воспоминаний, когда мы общались на море в Египте, может быть, его торкает? Я ему пишу в инстаграме: "Слушай, ты играл с моим сыном. Ты помнишь наши разговоры? А теперь все-таки ты осуществил то, о чем ты мне тогда рассказывал? И ты тогда, получается, не просто это говорил, а ты уже тогда меня предупреждал о том, что ты придешь ко мне в дом с автоматом?" Он сейчас уже живет в Москве, я посмотрел по публикациям, и он, я так понял, в МВД Москвы служит.

– И он вам не ответил на эти ваши слова?

– Нет, не ответил, не ответил.