Roman Sheremeta

Nov 7, 2025

A surgeon from Donetsk, Ihor Nazarenko, spent eight years in the torture chambers of the so-called “DPR.”

“Two men stopped me near the hospital, put a bag over my head, handcuffed me, and took me to Izolyatsia. There they tortured me with electricity and interrogated me all day.”

In his interview with Suspilne, he recalled: “After the torture, they forced me to sign papers. If I refused — they beat me again.

The basement had no windows, no heating, no toilet — only mold, insects, and cold. We slept on wooden planks and froze through the winter. Their logic was simple: ‘Whoever isn’t with us is an enemy.’

At the ‘trial,’ I said: ‘What DPR? This is Ukraine.’ The guard pointed a rifle at me, and the others looked at me as if I were insane. But I did not betray. I did not recognize their authority and did not support the so-called ‘referendum.’

In October 2019, the ‘court’ sentenced me to 11 years in a maximum-security colony.

On December 28, they sent me to Colony No. 32 in Makiivka. There they called us ‘Germans’ — first ‘ukrops,’ then ‘the German squad.’

In the colony, I treated people. Prisoners suffered from festering wounds and toothaches — there were no doctors. I would dismantle a razor blade, cut open the abscess, and rinse the wound. It hurt, but they survived.

Since 2017, we had been waiting for a prisoner exchange every two weeks. Every time brought new hope.

When they finally freed me, I cried. Everyone was waiting, but not everyone was released. For me, it was a second birthday.

Now I want to return to medicine. I need to study again, but I’m ready.

Ukraine needs surgeons. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay and work here.”

Source: translated and adopted from Tymofiy Mylovanov

Comment from :

Karen B.

Horrifying and those torturers are not human. His fellow prisoners were blessed to have him with them to help them survive. As I recall from history Russians were always cruel.

Humans aren’t really all that great, but in this century one would expect humans to have learned a lesson and stopped. But no, it started up again.

Teresse Teresse

Amazing courage! A young man with the soul of a fighter, a true hero. With tears I ask the Almighty
to protect and bless him.
Glory to Ukraine❤

Janny Lis

There is such courage here, and such deep love of country. He used his skills to help others stay alive, despite being in hell. This is true patriotism. God bless this man, strength and courage to him. “Ukraine needs surgeons. I’m not going anywhere”.

Troll vermin :

Bastiaan Van Benthem

Fantastic. I guess prison camps stop you from aging too!

Roman Sapronov replied :

Bastiaan Van Benthem : Cynicism won’t wash off Russia’s crimes. Mocking survivors just shows how desperate you are to distract from them.” 🇺🇦 BTW he is 30y.

……………..

“The big debate is whether it’s russia’s war or Putin’s war. Unfortunately, it’s russia’s war. Every russian, myself included, has a responsibility for the crimes committed in Ukraine.”

Gary Kasparov, Russian dissident and one of the greatest chess players of all time

Comment from :

Marijn Markus

Not Putin’s russia,
But russia’s Putin.

Gene Waldendfels

Yes, that is the Russian attitude toward Germany after World War II — but the way to end Putinism is through the Russian people themselves.

We must fiercely support Ukraine’s struggle against the Putinists, while also reaching out to those Russians who understand that what Putin is doing is Hitlerite, yet are silenced by fear.

Supporting Ukraine must come first — including restoring its full defensive capability after Russia violated the Budapest Memorandum and continues to threaten nuclear war. This shows strength to Putin while recognizing that, one day, Russia may finally become a normal country with normal leadership.

Should that day come, nothing would prevent Russia from achieving genuine greatness in meaningful fields — science, culture, art — rather than through the slave labor of 1960s tanks built to serve the fantasies of a midget dictator.