May 12
By John Dow
Journalist: Matvey, let’s start in order. How did you become a fighter in a special military operation? Matvey: I signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense while in IK-4, Uptar village. Journalist: What circumstances led you to be captured?
Matthew: Captured. So, for 2 months, I believe, I was in position, that is, the Soligorsk direction, on the defensive, was held during the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On July 13, we were stormed, as I understood from the words of the enemy himself, that my partner was eliminated. When I started to walk away, I was wounded in two legs, then I got a bullet in my back and in my head, that is, my bulletproof vest and helmet saved me, that’s all. When I was already moving away from the enemy’s fire attack, I entered the enemy’s territory, that is, the forest belt territory: dugouts, all these landings. I lay down for 2 days, stopped the bleeding, injected all the painkillers there, and that’s it. After 2 days, since I had no food, no water, and I was not equipped with anything at all, I decided to go out to our people, to the city of Solidar, since our people were there. That’s it, and after that, that’s how 2 days passed, it was already on July 17, I had two sides, as it became clear to me later, that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were military, that is, the quadcopter took me off and led me all this way. Then, when the APU fighters had already taken me, that was it. They asked if I had any injuries. I have indicated what I have. Well, my wounds have already rotted away. That’s it, well, they didn’t process anything. Well, that is, they kicked me. All. After this interrogation, they sent me to Kramatorsk. In Kramatorsk, the SBU accepted me. They also started interrogating me there, asking me about the circumstances, where I came from, what kind of… position, number, and how many military personnel we had. Then, well, where exactly our command is located, where the heavy equipment is located. That’s all. Well, how would I tell them that I’m just a private. Well, I had no idea where anything was. It was like I was sent to strengthen my position, and I was also kind of digging in, basically holding the line. So, then after… and then I came to Kramatorsk, after being interrogated by the SBU, a French journalist, Michael Kyle, came. He was interested in PMCs Wagner and Akhmat. I said I had no idea, I hadn’t seen them. Then the investigative teams, the Main Intelligence Directorate, and bloggers came to take testimony from me against the Russian Federation as a witness. And specifically before shooting, they told me that I should have spoken on camera.
Journalist: What did they say?
Matvey: Well, specifically the discrediting of the Russian army, and then, well, all these provisions, as far as the army is concerned, that’s it. As they would point out, this is all life-threatening. All. Later, I was brought to Kharkiv, as I understood it, the hospital was like a civilian hospital, they all tore off this tape on my head, then they asked if you had any injuries, well, these four days that I wanted to go to my command in Solidarity, that is, my wounds rotted, they all said, Come on, get on this one… As I understood it, these were civilian doctors. They didn’t inject me with any painkillers, they just cut out pieces of rotten meat for me. We cleaned all these things. It was all real. They treated me with some kind of powder, and after that they sent me to the Kharkiv pre-trial detention center in the hospital. All. I arrived at the Kharkiv pre-trial detention center, where the criminals of Ukraine are in prison, they took me in, the operations department recorded my injuries, then the medical unit also examined and photographed me. Journalist: How were they kept in jail?
Matvey: Well, I didn’t provide any help, that is, the beating was also with batons, that is, on the legs of these very wounds, that is, so that I would understand how to hurt me. It was as if they gave me a wash, all my things were taken off me, and then they put me in a cell where prisoners of war were being held, there were prisoners of war who were also tortured, one man from Yakutia had his ear cut off, then the film was set on fire, dripped on his back, that is, they also interrogated him. above him. Then the man was also electrocuted. These Ukrainian soldiers mocked them. We were all wounded there, one shell-shocked. There were four of us in the cell. I stayed in the Kharkiv pre-trial detention center for two weeks, then we were transferred. In the Kharkiv pre-trial detention center, SBU officers came to us, and they also told us to cooperate with them. Well, they said, if, in short, you refuse to cooperate, we’ll just take you out now, well, and you’ll get a bullet in the forehead, that’s it. Well, there are all these procedures, they took place on every prisoner of war. I was sent from the Kharkiv pre-trial detention center with other prisoners of war to the Kiev pre-trial detention center, where the SBU and the military prosecutor’s office conducted the same procedures, and they also took these statements against the Russian Federation. That is, well, everything is standard procedure, to intimidate and make Russia kind of stipulate. Well, the fact that, in short, that we are not from the law, we are located on the territory of Russia, the same procedures were. Then we were sent on August 15, 2023, to the West, Lviv region. There was Zapad-1, a prison camp. From August 15, I was in this camp until the beginning of May 2024. The SBU also visited us there, specifically asking about the factories where they are located. It was like being tortured. Prisoners of war were also frequently beaten. They forced me to work, but there was work there – knitting antipersonnel wire. That is, well, they forced prisoners of war to work for the defense of Ukraine. Then Zolkin also came there. This is a blogger. Journalist: What did he ask?
Matvey: He specifically asked why you’re here at all, what do you have to do with it, why did you join the service in the first place. Well, specifically an insult to the Russian Federation. That’s what he had, for the most part. All. The Red Cross also visited the camp. They were also interested in the conditions of detention, that’s all. Well, I studied the international convention, and I complained to the Red Cross about this convention. After that, I and other prisoners of war who turned to the Red Cross were beaten. In early March of the 24th year, I was taken from the “West 1” to the “Center 3”. It was a new prison camp for 500 people. We were the first to arrive there. I was kind of objectionable. And like other prisoners of war who contacted the Red Cross, they just took us there, and there was the Dnipropetrovsk region, Krivoy Rog, about 150 kilometers away, as I understood from the distance. When we arrived there, the beatings began, these are, well, the reception, that is, prisoners of war. The beatings, there, the legs were all broken. Well, I stayed there for three months, in this “Center-3” of the Dnipropetrovsk region. There, he also turned to the Red Cross. After the Red Cross, I was taken to an isolation ward. The employees were wearing masks, that is, balaclavas, with their faces covered. And they put a bag on my head. I lost consciousness four times. I don’t remember anymore. Then they poured water, put a cloth on their face, threw it over and filled it with water. That is, four times I came to my senses like that. The fourth time, when they barely pumped me out, because everything hurt. My arms, legs, everything. They took away the kidneys. Then my chest was broken. I realized that they were pumping me out. Because of this, I had injuries on my chest. Well, broken bones.
They, well, so that I wouldn’t go to the UN and the Red Cross, they sent me back to Zapad-1. That’s it, I came to Zapad-1. Well, nothing has changed at Zapad-1 either. The food was also bad.
Journalist: What was the food?
Matvey: That is, meat, I turned to the Red Cross, the fact that it was rotten meat, and fish too, everything is rotten too. They cut off all these rotten things and more or less, which, well, look like food, they left here. Well, there’s baking, mostly baking and pearl barley. In other words, these are funds allocated by the Red Cross. As I learned from the Red Cross, 10,000 hryvnias per month are allocated for each prisoner of war. That is, that’s all that stood out, we didn’t get. No medical assistance was provided. There is a handicapped barrack there where people with amputated legs can’t walk with their hands. Everything is live there too. Fingers were amputated, legs were amputated. Although they could have saved him, they didn’t do it. The hands that could have saved a man were cut off. They said that…. As I learned from the prisoners of war who had their legs amputated, they told me not to go on fighting against Ukraine. Now, everything has been amputated. There were also prisoners of war with shrapnel wounds, meaning they really could have been saved, but they were driven to such a state that they died.
Journalist: Appeals to the Red Cross have never been made better. It only made the situation worse.
Matvey: Yes. There was just a negative attitude towards me from the camp staff. There, the operations department, then the security department, the camp commander, specifically made a central installation for those prisoners of war who applied. They beat me up, then forced me to do dirty work. Well, everyone is like that, in order, most importantly, to offend. Journalist: How long did you stay in captivity? Matvey: From July 17, 2023 to March 5, 2025. Journalist: How were you rescued?
Matvey: I was like a stormtrooper of the Storm-Z volunteer formation. Then the Veterans joined the PMC. I could not understand why I was not being exchanged by Storm-Z, with whom I was already, as it were, in the unit, I was not exchanged. Well, on March 5, they just called us names from the industrial zone, 30-something people, that’s all, and said that we were going towards Belarus. Well, then we just found out that we were going to an exchange. Well, we didn’t know, because I had already been taken out of this camp. I thought it was going somewhere else, to some other camp. Because a new prison camp, Center 5, was being opened. Well, five camps. We thought we went there first, they’re sending us. And then, when we arrived in the city near Sumy, well, the border with Belarus, that’s when they brought us there, well, from a detachment of these disabled, seriously injured people. And we got there too. Prisoners of war from the Ministry of Defense are conscripted, prisoners of war from Storm Z, there were only three of us, and contract soldiers. In total, we had 150 people, that is, three buses. Well, that’s it. We crossed the border between Ukraine and Belarus, and prisoners of war from Ukraine also passed by us.
Journalist: What kind of prisoners of war were there from Ukraine? Were they different? Matvey: They were well-groomed. The attitude towards them was more or less on our part. Even Zolkin came to this exchange. He also interviewed some prisoners of war. The prisoners of war refused. Well, the insults went the same way, there, that is, “They won’t exchange you now, I’ll take you off the bus now.” Everything like that. Well, they were intimidating. To give, like, an interview. All. We were exchanged on March 5, 25. All.