The Polish Institute in Leipzig Hosted a Screening of the Film «Viktoriia’s Voice: A Diary of an Abducted Teacher».

On 25 April, the documentary “Viktoriia’s Voice: A Diary of an Abducted Teacher”, produced by the Center for Civil Liberties, was screened at the Polish Institute in Leipzig. This event was held at the initiative of Freundeskreis der Ukraine in Leipzig, in partnership with the Women’s Union of Ukraine and the Center for Civil Liberties and in cooperation with the Gazdyni Gonorovi project.

The film tells the story of Viktoriia Andrusha, a Ukrainian teacher of math and computer science, whom the Russian military abducted from her parents’ home in Chernihiv Region. For almost half a year, she has been detained in Kursk detention centre, where she was psychologically and physically abused. Viktoriia was successfully released on 29 September 2022.

The Polish Institute in Leipzig chaired by its Director Bernd Karwen, is an important diplomatic establishment regularly holding cultural and artistic events to support Ukraine. Bernd Karwen has personally supported this initiative.

The screening has gathered about 30 guests — local German residents and members of the Ukrainian diaspora, who came to support people in captivity. Dana Mekhedova, Head of the Council of the Women’s Union of Ukraine, addressed the attendees with welcoming remarks and said, “I sincerely thank each of you for your assistance and support in this challenging time for Ukraine. It is through such films that we can educate the young generation and remind the world of what our country is experiencing now”.

After the screening, there was a discussion entitled “Surviving in Captivity: Testimonies, Truth and Fight for Justice”. Its participants were Anna Trushova, the director of the film and the press officer at the Center for Civil Liberties, Liudmyla Huseinova, head of “Numo, Sisters” NGO, a human rights activist and former prisoner of war, and Mykhailo Savva, Doctor of Political Science and an expert at the Center for Civil Liberties.

Anna Trushova shared the idea of how the documentary was created, emphasising that Viktoriia’s story is only one of many examples of enforced abductions of Ukrainian civilians. She emphasised that the Center for Civil Liberties has collected lots of testimonies about war crimes, and public disclosure is becoming a powerful tool for raising the international community’s awareness and achieving justice.

“These testimonies are a base for the future body of evidence required for trying war criminals”, she stressed.

The realities of detaining Ukrainians in captivity are a topic that is particularly close to Liudmila Huseinova , who herself survived Russian prisons. She spoke about severe conditions, mental pressure and torture that the Ukrainian women are subjected to.

“Women in captivity receive no medical care, have no basic sanitary facilities and do not go outside for years. They are deprived of any opportunity to see and hear their children and relatives. Women are being tortured, raped and killed. We must remember each of them and fight for their release”, Huseinova pointed out.

Mykhailo Savva, Doctor of Political Science and an expert at the Center for Civil Liberties, wrapped up the discussion. Focusing on the legal aspects of this tragedy, he stressed that capturing civilians and exchanging them for war prisoners was a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions. Mykhailo made an emphasis on the importance of recording testimonies. “The key source of information about prisoners is people returning from captivity. Many of them deliberately memorise the names and faces of other detainees to report their testimonies after release. This information should be recorded and conveyed to those searching for their relatives”.