Andriy Tuz, once the voice of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex in Ukraine, was branded as a traitor after his imprisonment by Russian forces. Tuz said he was tortured by the Russians and his mother’s life was threatened. To get out of prison, he agreed to make a video disavowing his previous statements that the facility wasn’t safe. He said he doesn’t believe that now, and he didn’t believe it then. After a harrowing escape to the West, Tuz is hoping to clear his name.
From Jennifer Hiller:
>When Russia invaded, Tuz thought [the Zaporizhzhia plant] would be one of Ukraine’s safer places.
>Now Enerhodar is occupied. The reactors at Zaporizhzhia where Tuz had worked for a decade are shut down. Sometimes when he calls friends across Ukraine, he hears bombs in the background.
>“The war has broken many lives in Ukraine,” Tuz said.
>The reality of living under Russian occupation is hard to explain.
>“You cannot say what you think. You cannot do what you want,” he said. “It’s like a rabbit on a farm. You can eat carrots, you can walk around, but anytime the farmer wants to kill you, he can kill you.”
>The Russians detained and in many cases tortured hundreds of plant workers. When first asked to make the propaganda video for the Russians, Tuz refused, but he knew he couldn’t avoid it forever.
>Tuz and his mother fled together, driving east and south, hoping to circle the Black Sea through countries including Russia, Georgia and Turkey to reach western Ukraine.
>Thousands of Ukrainians traveled the same route, but Tuz was stopped at a checkpoint and taken into custody. He said he was beaten, hooded, handcuffed and driven to a prison in Sochi, Russia, where he was held for two days. Tuz said his hands were burned and guards laughed as they hit the back of his head, saying they were helping him by killing a mosquito.
>“I can’t think. I can’t breathe,” Tuz said. “At that time, I think I’ll die for sure. I just don’t know how fast.”
>Tuz said he was kept in a dark cell, about 2 meters by 2 meters, with another man who had gone crazy from the experience and banged on the door nonstop. Human waste covered the floor.
>Tuz said he was told that if he made a video, he might be able to see his mom again. In the video, he said that he was on vacation in Sochi, a resort town on the Black Sea, and that everything was fine at the nuclear plant.
>“Only a person who stays in the same situation can understand,” Tuz said of the experience.
>…Tuz said he is lucky to be in a safe place and with a job he loves. More than anything, he wants Ukraine to prevail so he and others can go home, though he doesn’t know if it will ever be safe for him after being accused of collaborating with the Russians.
>Representatives for the Ukrainian security service, the SBU, didn’t respond to requests for comment about whether Tuz is still suspected of collaborating with the Russians.
>The SBU is tasked with investigating thousands of allegations of collaboration with the Russians, but it isn’t always easy to distinguish between those who threw their lot in with the Russians for their own benefit and those just seeking to survive. SBU officials said the task is particularly hard when the events took place on territory that is still occupied.
4 comments
Andriy Tuz, once the voice of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex in Ukraine, was branded as a traitor after his imprisonment by Russian forces. Tuz said he was tortured by the Russians and his mother’s life was threatened. To get out of prison, he agreed to make a video disavowing his previous statements that the facility wasn’t safe. He said he doesn’t believe that now, and he didn’t believe it then. After a harrowing escape to the West, Tuz is hoping to clear his name.
From Jennifer Hiller:
>When Russia invaded, Tuz thought [the Zaporizhzhia plant] would be one of Ukraine’s safer places.
>Now Enerhodar is occupied. The reactors at Zaporizhzhia where Tuz had worked for a decade are shut down. Sometimes when he calls friends across Ukraine, he hears bombs in the background.
>“The war has broken many lives in Ukraine,” Tuz said.
>The reality of living under Russian occupation is hard to explain.
>“You cannot say what you think. You cannot do what you want,” he said. “It’s like a rabbit on a farm. You can eat carrots, you can walk around, but anytime the farmer wants to kill you, he can kill you.”
>The Russians detained and in many cases tortured hundreds of plant workers. When first asked to make the propaganda video for the Russians, Tuz refused, but he knew he couldn’t avoid it forever.
>Tuz and his mother fled together, driving east and south, hoping to circle the Black Sea through countries including Russia, Georgia and Turkey to reach western Ukraine.
>Thousands of Ukrainians traveled the same route, but Tuz was stopped at a checkpoint and taken into custody. He said he was beaten, hooded, handcuffed and driven to a prison in Sochi, Russia, where he was held for two days. Tuz said his hands were burned and guards laughed as they hit the back of his head, saying they were helping him by killing a mosquito.
>“I can’t think. I can’t breathe,” Tuz said. “At that time, I think I’ll die for sure. I just don’t know how fast.”
>Tuz said he was kept in a dark cell, about 2 meters by 2 meters, with another man who had gone crazy from the experience and banged on the door nonstop. Human waste covered the floor.
>Tuz said he was told that if he made a video, he might be able to see his mom again. In the video, he said that he was on vacation in Sochi, a resort town on the Black Sea, and that everything was fine at the nuclear plant.
>“Only a person who stays in the same situation can understand,” Tuz said of the experience.
>…Tuz said he is lucky to be in a safe place and with a job he loves. More than anything, he wants Ukraine to prevail so he and others can go home, though he doesn’t know if it will ever be safe for him after being accused of collaborating with the Russians.
>Representatives for the Ukrainian security service, the SBU, didn’t respond to requests for comment about whether Tuz is still suspected of collaborating with the Russians.
>The SBU is tasked with investigating thousands of allegations of collaboration with the Russians, but it isn’t always easy to distinguish between those who threw their lot in with the Russians for their own benefit and those just seeking to survive. SBU officials said the task is particularly hard when the events took place on territory that is still occupied.
Skip the paywall and read the full story: [https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/he-warned-of-nuclear-disaster-in-ukraine-then-he-was-thrown-in-a-russian-jail-and-tortured-e0721a9e?st=6fgte7tl89plfzh](https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/he-warned-of-nuclear-disaster-in-ukraine-then-he-was-thrown-in-a-russian-jail-and-tortured-e0721a9e?st=6fgte7tl89plfzh)
He just explained George Orwell.
Look what Stalin did to Ukraine in 1930’s. 5,000,000 starved intentionally by taking every scrap of food.
How horrible for him to go through that. There has to be some compassion for those who underwent torture.