Officially, Russia is not a party to the conflict in the Donbass. Such soldiers as Viktor Ageev, in fact, does not exist. He was now captured by the Ukrainian army and spoke for the first time.
They are hostages of war in the East of Ukraine: hundreds of militants and civilians, who are sitting in the prisons of the Ukrainian security service and the so-called Pro-Russian Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics. About exchanging them being tough political negotiations.
Now talking about Viktor Ageyev.
21-year-old boy was captured by the Ukrainian military near Lugansk on June 24, he fought in the brigade of the separatists. Ukrainian television showed a man sitting on the floor, plastered with yellow adhesive tape eyes.
For Kiev Ageev — another proof that Russia is directly involved in the war in the East of Ukraine and not only helps separatists with weapons, but also sends a soldier. NATO and the West is also talking about the hundreds, if not thousands of Russian soldiers in the region, but the Kremlin denies this.
Often men remain nameless, officially such soldiers as Ageev, no. Even if their relatives say the opposite, as the mother of Victor Svetlana Ageeva, friends and former colleagues. They argue that Ageev signed a contract with the Russian army. The defence Ministry in Moscow denied it: Ageev has been dismissed in may 2016 after completing his military service, officials said.
“Yes, I have a contract”
Now, the young man decided to speak, he answered questions of the correspondent of the Ukrainian television news service TSN. How did you manage to interview is unclear. Ageev short answer to many questions. According to the channel, the Russian fighter has agreed to the interview because, in his opinion, Russia has betrayed him. He Ageev never said that.
“Yes, I have a contract,” confirmed Ageev in the conversation. The contract was for a year, sending to Ukraine, then it was not. Number of units — 65246. This anti-aircraft troops stationed in Novocherkassk, in southern Russia. The division number Ageeva already reported the BBC, two of his former colleagues called it.
“Service is service”
After just four days Ageeva, he said, moved from Lugansk to Novocherkassk, and then to the South-West of Ukraine, in Alchevsk. He volunteered for service in the East of Ukraine. He doesn’t know why it so quickly sent. “I didn’t ask. Service is service”.
Why is the Eastern Ukraine? “I wanted to help people’s Republic of Lugansk,” — said Ageev. He decided to participate in operations not only for money but also out of patriotism. “They said that the Nazis bombed the local population.” The young man is referring to the propaganda of Russian state television, which does not get tired to constantly discredit the government and the army in Kiev, calling them fascist junta.
In Lugansk he went with his commander. How they got there, Ageev said. He uses the word “flight”, which can mean flight. During his military service, he received 23 thousand rubles (about 330 euros), plus of 15 thousand rubles (about 215 euros) in cash for the operation in Luhansk.
His story suggests that he had two contracts: one in Novocherkassk in the Russian army, the other in the so-called Luhansk people’s Republic.
Call mother on assistance
Svetlana Ageeva told Spiegel that her son called once a month, but never talked about the details of his military service. Ageev, which is on the page “Vkontakte” is another name, in March, he went to Rostov-on-don to sign a contract with the army. The family lives in a village near Barnaul in the Altai region, about 3.6 thousand kilometers from Lugansk. “I never thought that my son is in Ukraine,” says the English teacher.
She appealed to defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “Still no one answered,” she says. However, the press Secretary of the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov on June 29 announced that Russia will take measures to protect the rights Ageeva. The status of the young man Peskov did not say.
Ukrainian television reported that now Svetlana Ageeva wants to visit his son in Ukraine. “I don’t know. Still considering whether I arrive there and when it” she said Monday. First she had to hire a lawyer.
Alexander Goncharenko, human rights activist and politician of the opposition party Yabloko supports the mother. They are trying to establish a communication channel with Viktor Ageev. How, he says. “We will do everything to have him traded, or to the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko had mercy on him.”
