Third birthday in a Russian prison. The publication hromadske talks about the life of 21-year-old Ukrainian Daniil Efimov, imprisoned for donating to the Pritula Foundation.

The publication hromadske talks about the life of 21-year-old Ukrainian Daniil Efimov, imprisoned for donating to the Pritula Foundation.

21-year-old Daniil Efimov has been in a Russian prison for three years.

His hometown of Snezhnoye in the Donetsk region was captured by the Russian army back in 2014. Then the guy was nine years old. Despite the fact that he lived under occupation, Daniil graduated from a Ukrainian school online, and after the start of a full-scale invasion, he decided to switch to the Ukrainian language and wanted to leave.

But for making a few donations to volunteer Sergei Pritula’s charitable foundation, which specializes in helping the Ukrainian military, he, then still a minor, was detained. And later he was sentenced to 12 years in a maximum security colony.

What is known about Daniil’s stay in the Russian colony? And how did letters from readers of the Ukrainian publication hromadske become support for the guy in captivity?

In December 2023, 18-year-old Daniil, along with his dad and girlfriend, left for Volgograd. From there they planned to fly to Istanbul - Daniel’s older brother settled there. The guy had a Ukrainian foreign passport. And because of this document he was detained at the airport.

During the interrogation, Russian security forces took the phone and found bank transfers - several donations to the Sergei Pritula Foundation, totaling 5,200 hryvnia. After this, Daniil was imprisoned in a pre-trial detention center.

In July 2024, a Russian court sentenced Efimov to 12 years in a maximum security colony and a year of restricted freedom after imprisonment under the article “high treason.”

In the “sentence,” allegedly from Daniil’s words, it was indicated that after the start of the big war, he was constantly under stress because he read Ukrainian news about the crimes of the Russians and heard about it from relatives who were in the territory controlled by Ukraine.

“Under the influence of these publications and the data received, he (Daniil. - Ed. ) formed a false idea about the Ukrainian Armed Forces, their actions and the need to support the Ukrainian army financially,” the case file says.

Hromadske wrote in more detail about the Russian trial and the conditions of Daniil’s detention in the pre-trial detention center in December 2024.

During his imprisonment, Daniil lost weight, often gets sick, and eats almost once a day, because prison food is very bad. Sometimes he doesn’t even wake up for breakfast, despite the constant feeling of hunger. When his parents brought him normal food, he was happy, but he could no longer eat much.

“He ate one day and then felt very bad for several days. Although he was just eating normal food. But his body no longer accepts ordinary normal food, because he is fed gruel every day, and in very limited quantities,” says older brother Kirill.

According to him, his brother no longer understands what life is like outside prison.

“On a date in January, Daniil said that he was mentally prepared for anything. He was in a very negative state. When he sometimes calls his parents on the phone, he says it feels like he's playing a computer game. He doesn’t feel that this is all real, that he can call somewhere, talk to his parents, and then the call will end - and that’s it,” says the brother.

The parents don't know if their son is being beaten. He only talked about how his jacket and hat, which they had given on a date in January, had been stolen.

“It was winter. He walked around without a jacket for some time. Then someone helped him and gave him something. He also found a hat. It was just lying around somewhere, it was very dirty. He said that he washed it, and even the water stank from it, like a dog,” says Kirill Efimov.

When checking packages from relatives, sometimes there are security officials who say to Danil: “Oh, are you a Ukrainian?” After this, they begin to rip through and cut all the packages or cut apples.

Daniel's wisdom teeth began to grow, rubbing his cheek. But there is no dentist in the colony.

“There is an opportunity to go to the dentist at the city hospital. But those who went told Danil that before that they were severely beaten. Therefore, Daniel says that until he converts, he will endure.”

The guy also gets sick often. In winter, I could stand in the cold for several hours with a fever, waiting in line to go to the nurse and take my temperature.

“Paracetamol is the most you can expect. Transferring medicine is also problematic. You must have a doctor's permission that you need this particular medicine. And by the time you receive it, you may no longer need this medicine. And it’s not a fact that you will receive this permission at all,” adds Kirill Efimov.

Despite this, Daniel reads the Bible a lot, quotes it by heart, helps in the prison church, cleans, participates in services, makes icons, and even began making a lectern - a table or stand on which an icon, Gospel or other liturgical books are placed.

Daniel goes to church with priest Konstantin Maximov. The Russians detained him in Tokmak in the occupied part of Zaporozhye in May 2023 and accused him of “espionage.” Allegedly, he collected coordinates of Russian air defense forces in the Tokmak area and passed them on to the SBU. Konstantin was arrested for 14 years.

In the colony, Daniil sees Sergei Kotov, who is from the occupied Oleshek of the Kherson region. The Russians detained him back in April 2022. Kotov was also accused of “espionage” and jailed for 15 years.

In total, there are not many Ukrainians in this colony, Daniil told his brother. The vast majority of prisoners are from the ordinary criminal world of Russia.

After the January meeting, Kirill turned to hromadske and offered to encourage him to write letters to Daniil in the colony. In April, more than 250 people responded to our publication . Kirill, Daniel's brother, handed over only a third of the letters. He deliberately did not send everything at once: he did not know whether they would be allowed through at all, and did not want to risk having all the letters rejected.

During visits with relatives, prisoners are allowed to live in a dormitory at the prison for several days. At such a meeting in May, the parents gave letters to Danil. They saw how their son woke up and immediately re-read them - for him it became an insane support.

In response, Daniel wrote a letter to everyone who supported him. He also wanted to hand over the painting, but it was too large, so they didn’t allow it. He also shared a poem written in March.

Denis Bulavin

The text was published with the support of Media Network