Residents of Volchansk spoke about three days in Russian captivity

The Russian army has entered Volchansk, Kharkov region, and is fighting within the city. This was reported by the Russian Volunteer Corps, which is fighting on the side of Ukraine. The fact of the fighting for Volchansk was confirmed by Ukrainian officials. The media disseminated footage in which people evacuated from Volchansk said that they spent three days in captivity by the Russians in a basement.

Svetlana and Vladimir told Suspilna journalists that they were captured on May 11 and escaped on the morning of May 13. According to them, while they were in the basement, the Russian military forced them to wrap bandages around the legs of the wounded. However, they were not beaten or tortured.

“We ran away because they [the Russian military] retreated a little today, and we escaped,” Vladimir said. “A Russian soldier just found out that I was taping his legs. I don’t know, maybe they regretted it,” added Svetlana.

According to Vladimir, there were still people left in the basement from which they escaped. “[We] heard talk that “we should shoot.” And there, whether they were talking about us, or not about us, we don’t know,” the man said.

Another 74-year-old resident of Volchansk had his finger shot off by the Russian military, the Kharkov regional prosecutor’s office reported .

Kharkov security analyst Maria Avdeeva, who spoke with residents of Volchansk, told the BBC that people were “fleeing in horror” from the city. “Everyone is under enormous stress and shock from the Russian offensive. They say they knew something was brewing, but they weren't prepared for it to happen a second time. Because Volchansk and Liptsy, the second city that Russia is trying to attack, both of them were already under Russian occupation,” she said.

The head of the Kharkov regional military administration, Oleg Sinegubov, said that the Russian military is trying to capture Volchansk, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are repulsing them.

“Shooting continues on the northern outskirts of the city. In total, since the beginning of active hostilities, our fighters have destroyed more than 1,000 invaders,” wrote Sinegubov. He added that about 200 residents remained in Volchansk and called on them to evacuate.

The head of the Kharkov region police, Vladimir Timoshko, said that over the past three days Volchansk “suffered as much as it has suffered since 2022.” “In a sense, Volchansk is turning into Bakhmut or Marinka,” he added.

The fact that the Russian army went on the offensive in the Kharkov region became known on May 10.

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