ChristianB

The kid’s account in his own words. He says he lives only about 200 metres from the house, friends told him something was happening, and he went to see for himself. He describes climbing the fence/tree with other teenagers while people were being sprayed with fire extinguishers and stones were being thrown. He says an older man doused him with a fire extinguisher. He went home to get a gas mask, returned, climbed again, and was doused once more. He claims the earlier threatening and foul-language video of him on the fence was directed at the people who had been spraying him. According to him, several people then came out of the building (he refers to it as the temporary location of Azov) carrying shovels and threw bricks at him. He fell onto the property. He says roughly ten men in black uniforms, balaclavas, and unmarked military-style clothing then dragged him inside and beat him: “The further they carried me, the more people started beating me. About ten guys, all in black uniforms, balaclavas, some kind of military clothes. Completely unclear who they were, no identifying marks. They grab you by the hair. They just beat you — with shovels, with feet, and with fists.” He says they took him to the second floor, put him face-down, and continued beating and questioning him: “They lay me face-down on the floor and start interrogating me. They hit me so hard on the head that I can’t hear or see anything. Then they grab me by the hair and throw me against another wall. And when I didn’t fall on my stomach, they started beating my head against the floor.” He claims they cut his clothes with knives and filmed what was happening. Then there was sudden activity inside the building; they started cleaning him up and wiping blood. A woman entered, calmed him, told him nothing more would happen, and shielded him. Shortly afterwards Budanov entered. The boy says he was in shock and at first did not recognise who was in front of him. When his sister called, he asked her what he should say because he did not know what would happen next. After the conversation with Budanov he was taken out and handed over to medics. He states that he is currently in a Kyiv-region hospital with injuries from the beating: cut fingers, a painful rib, and difficulty walking. He also denies claims that he was part of a paid crowd: “I came to the meeting myself. They just knocked me off the fence with a shovel and started beating me.”