At 70 years old, Oleksandr endured unimaginable horrors during the Russian occupation of his native village. After the full-scale war started, like many others in his region, he stayed to take care of his house, but in August 2023, his life took a terrifying turn when soldiers came to his home.

“They took me to the basement. On the way, an armed Russian soldier slided the receiver of an assault rifle. I thought he would kill me. Then he told me to take off my clothes. I did so. They looked at my tattoos, then hit me with a butt. And they threatened me, they threatened me all the time,” Oleksandr recalls.

The abuse didn’t end there. Oleksandr was blindfolded, thrown into the trunk of a car, and driven to an unknown location where he was tortured with electric shocks while being interrogated. After several days of torture, Oleksandr was released, but his spirit was shattered. Fearing for his life, he fled the occupied territory.

Oleksandr sought help from the Survivor Relief Centre in Poltava. 

“In June, 2024, I contacted the Survivor Relief Centre - I was advised by people who had already received help there. In the Survivor Relief Centre I received humanitarian aid, legal advice and medical help. I also wrote a statement to the prosecutor's office. I’m incredibly grateful,” man says.

Now thanks to the support of his family, he bought a new house and started a new life in another region of Ukraine. Watch Oleksandr's story on his behalf in the video.

Survivor Relief Centre in Poltava was created on the initiative of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, with the assistance of the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), thanks to the financial support of the governments of Austria, Belgium, Spain, Sweden and in cooperation with NGO "Innovative Social Solutions".