Russia-backed militants held in captivity Vladyslav Ovcharenko, the fan of Zorya Luhansk FC; the 21-year-old was charged with several violations, including espionage, terrorism and an attempt to conduct sabotage. Ovcharenko told this in an interview with 112 Ukraine news agency - soon after the release from captivity, which took place on December 27.
‘They detained me for the video, which appeared on Youtube – the one where I and my friends burned the flag of LNR (the self-proclaimed ‘republic’ in Luhansk region). Then, they accused me of espionage. They applied physical and psychological pressure on us – every day. In December 2016, they transferred us to the pre-trial detention facility’, Ovcharenko said.
The former prisoner, detained in November 2016 admitted that militants recruited some of the people he knew personally. ‘As they interrogated us and used force to make us talk, I almost identified some of the guys under the masks. Then, these guys would appear without masks – and yes, it appeared that I actually knew them’, he said.
