Trust No One!

Our news: April 6-7, 2022, Kyiv

DON’T TRUST ANYONE

You don't have to trust anyone. How many times have I said these words to myself in the last month? Yesterday was one of the scariest days of my life and even today I don't feel safe. I reassure myself, I repeat many times that everything is over and we need to move on. However, the shock of the experience has not yet completely passed. I do not give up and continue to fight for the salvation of all of us.

As I wrote in previous posts, I have the legal right to leave Ukraine as a student at a foreign university. This is clearly written in the law of Ukraine and I did not think that any of the officials would brazenly disobey the laws. However, this is Ukraine and anything can happen here. I prepared all the paperwork in advance (last week), made notarized copies of the Confirmation of Enrollment (CoE), Letter of Offer, my student ID card, etc. and began to plan when I can go to the Military Commissariat of my district, where I can obtain permission to leave Ukraine.

The first time I called the Commissariat last Friday and asked when I could come for such a permit and what documents I should take. I was told that only the military commissar himself could decide this question, and he was very busy.

The first time I came was on Monday, April 5th. I waited for a long time (more than 4 hours), but they did not accept me and told me to come the next day in the morning.

On Tuesday, from 6 am, I was already near the commissariat, but no one received me that day either. I told my father about this and he called his friend, who said that he had arranged for the Deputy Commissioner to receive me on Wednesday at 9:00 am.

On Wednesday I arrived at this time and they let me into the Commissariat. At the entrance, they took away all my phones and turned them off and searched me. Two military men armed with automatic guns took me to the office of the Deputy Commissar. I said that I am a student of UNSW Australia and I want to get permission to leave. He said that this was not a problem and that such a document would be issued to me now.

The Deputy Commissioner called his assistant and asked her to issue me a permit. I went with her to another office and showed my documents there. She said that I must first go through a medical examination, since permits are issued only to healthy people who can be called to the front. I was very surprised and asked her what the state of health has to do with studying at the university and going abroad. She said that such rules and led me once again to her boss.

The Deputy Commissioner was very annoyed and said that I had to agree to a medical commission otherwise they would not give me permission. I know that those who are called up for military service must pass the medical commission and are often immediately sent to a training camp after the commission. I said that I have health problems, I have diabetes and I recently had Covid with pneumonia. Therefore, I doubt very much that I will be able to pass this commission.

The Deputy Commissioner said that it was not a problem and his assistant would help me. If I go with her now, then in 2 hours I will be able to get permission to leave. In addition, the Deputy Commissioner said that I have an old-style military certificate and it needs to be replaced with a new one, and this requires a medical commission. He began to persuade me and said, otherwise I will not receive anything and with the old certificate I will have problems at the borders. I was forced to agree, although I felt that something was wrong. I went for an assistant to the medical board.

In the first office, where the Chairman of the Medical Commission was sitting, the assistant asked me to hand over my passport and documents from the university. I gave them to her. She talked about something with the Chairman of the Medical Commission and said that she went to get me permission while I was on the commission.

The Chairman of the Medical commission began to draw up my documents, and then sent me to a neighboring building so that I could take urine and blood tests there. Since I didn't have a passport, she brought me one of my phones, which had an attachment with an electronic version of my passport.

When I did the tests, I photographed the results with my phone. Nobody saw this. I gave the test results and the phone. The results were very poor, as the sugar was high and there was protein in the urine. The Chairman of the Medical Commission was not satisfied. She said that I was seriously ill and she could not write me a certificate that I was healthy. She called the assistant. She came and was very unhappy. She asked me to leave. They talked about something without me and after 15 minutes I was called into the office.

The Chairman of the Medical Commission told me to sign several documents, in which it was written that I confirm that I am absolutely healthy and have no health problems. I saw that documents from 10 doctors had already been drawn up, that everything was fine with my health, including the ophthalmologist (I have had poor eyesight since childhood), and my bad tests were replaced with others. I asked if it would hurt me? The assistant answered me that it was only a formality and my permission was already ready. I signed all the documents and gave them to the assistant. After that, she took me to a room with no windows and asked me to wait there. When she left, the door was locked and I could not get out of there.

I sat in this room for 6 hours. I knocked many times and was opened by an armed guard who told me that I have to wait and this is a military facility and there are such rules. Once I was taken to the toilet, accompanied by a security guard. They didn't give me water. I realized that I was being held illegally as a hostage.

After 6 hours I was taken to another office, in which sat the Deputy Commissioner and a very drunk man who smoked. I realized that it was the Commissar himself. He began to look at my documents, but could not understand anything. He threw away the folder with irritation and said that I had already "unlearned" and that I would go to a training camp today.

When I began to object, the Commissioner began to loudly shout at me that this would be a lesson for me for life, that I was a “major” and this was retribution. I said it was a crime and I am a lawyer.

The Commissioner shouted that he was in charge of everything here and in anger tore one of my documents and threw the folder on the floor. He was so angry that his drunken eyes were bloodshot.

At that moment, an assistant came in and handed the phone to the Commissar. She said it was urgent. The Commissioner talked to someone and gave me a phone. A man spoke to me and asked how I was doing. I replied that I was being illegally detained. The man told me not to worry and gave the phone to the Commissioner. The commissioner told me to go out into the corridor. After 5 minutes, an assistant came up to me and gave me my passport and my phones, as well as my jacket. She told me to follow her. She led me to the exit and said that if I told anyone about what had happened and bothered them, they would immediately take me to the front or arrest me.

I went out into the street, where my father and two men were waiting for me. We got into the car and my father told me that these were his old friends from the Security Service of Ukraine. It turns out that an acquaintance of my father, who allegedly arranged a meeting with the Deputy Commissar, told my father that I was being taken to a training camp, and then to the front. He can help solve everything and it will cost 30 thousand USD. My father said that he would call him back, and he called a friend from the Security Service of Ukraine. He helped me get out.

For two days I can't get over the shock. I wrote a statement to the police today and did new tests to confirm my state of health. A friend of my father did not recommend me to file a police report and suggested that I move to another apartment in the coming days, and then leave Kyiv altogether. He also said that this is not the first case, but the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense turns a blind eye to this.

We understand that there are very few people who can be trusted and the danger comes not only from the Russians.

On Roxy's condition: My fluffy princess has been very nervous and screaming for the past two days. Today I reassured her for a long time and gave her chamomile tea again.

About the situation in Kyiv:

yesterday and today there are very few cars and people on the streets, many of them are closed to traffic.

Sorry for these feelings. Thank you for your support and prayers! I got saved again.

I have 2 more sets of documents and I already know what to do next. I will let you know later when I can implement the new plan.

I send you all love and hope! XoXo

Best wishes,

Sergii & Roxy