DONETSK, February 12. /TASS/. Kiev’s special services tortured Sergey Mykhailov, a Ukrainian army counter-intelligence agent, for helping evacuate a sick elderly woman from the city of Maryinka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Mykhailov himself told TASS after surrendering to Russian troops. 

“We sent the old woman from Maryinka to Kharkov with a volunteer’s assistance. She had heart issues. <...> I was making notes for a book I was writing, which was uploaded online in 2019. When I wrote about that incident, it caught their eye [the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU]. SBU officers came and took me away,” the captive revealed.

He explained that the elderly woman’s rescue was used as a pretext for accusing him of sympathizing with Donbass residents. “I was beaten a little and exposed to cold. They made me sit under an AC and turned it on full blast,” Mykhailov added.

Besides, in his words, he was left in total darkness and silence. “The cold and the quiet were the worst part. It was a cold and dark cellar, where the temperature stood at 4-5 degrees Celsius (39-41 degrees Fahrenheit - TASS), and there was silence. When you hear no sound for a couple of hours, you are still capable of controlling your thoughts. But when it goes on for ten, 15, or 20 hours, it’s scary,” the captive shared.

Earlier, TASS reported that Sergey Mykhailov, a Ukrainian counter-intelligence officer and SBU agent, had surrendered to Russian forces.