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Stanislav Aseyev

@stanislavaseyev.bsky.social

4.7K followers 4 following 410 posts

Ukrainian journalist, writer, founder Justice Initiative Fund, veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Spent 2.5 years in Russian secret torture camp Izolyatsia (Isolation).

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · Nov 12

So, the main book of my life - "The Torture Camp on Paradise Street" - is available for purchase at the link below. There is no fictional plot in it: it is a non-fiction book describing the events in the Russian concentration camp "Izolyatsia" in Donetsk.
books.huri.harvard.edu/books/the-tort…

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 13h

...and didn’t respond to anything we said to him.

We had to lift him up and move him to a seat at the table (which involved pressing on his broken ribs), where we could begin to engage him in a conversation about fishing and mining (he was a miner and liked to fish)".
6/6

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 13h

At night, whenever he heard the slightest noise in the corridor, his hands would begin to shake and he’d sit perched on the very edge of the cot nearest the door, saying over and over, “Just hang on, son, hang on, hang on.” He was convinced that he was back in the basement with his son...
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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 13h

That evening we encountered another problem. From about seven p.m. until half past eight, the man was suddenly completely disoriented. He raved as if in a fever and clearly didn’t know where he was. It turned out that he had been tortured every day for a week at precisely that time...
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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 13h

...(they did the same to the father) - the men doing the torturing yelled at the father, “Look at your whelp, he peed himself!”

This inmate later told me that neither the torture itself nor the threat to his life had caused him as much pain as he felt in that moment...
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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 13h

had been tortured together with his own son, on the same table. Torture is a complex system of measures and isn’t limited to causing physical pain. When the man’s son lost control of his bladder - reflexively, because of the muscle spasms induced by the electricity shocking his genitals and anus
2/6

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 13h

"The Torture Camp on Paradise Street" continues to come to life, and another character, described below, is already free.

It's absolutely surreal to talk on the phone to these people through eight years and the depths of Russian basements:

"Another serious case involved a man who...
1/6

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 23h

Cesta světla

Cesta světla Ukrajinský novinář popisuje poměry v doněckém koncentračním táboře a líčí nejen své osudy, ale i příběhy spoluvezňů a dalších obyvatel Donbasu.

www.grada.cz

Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 23h

"The Torture Camp on Paradise Street" now in the Czech Republic.

This is very important for me, given the role Prague plays in the book's final chapter.
I thank the publishing house Grada and Ян Кравчик for making this possible.

Link to the book:
www.grada.cz/cesta-svetla...

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 2d

An Atheist’s Prayer (part of The Torture Camp on Paradise Street):

"Dear Lord, grant that I not be indifferent".

Written in quarantine at Penal Colony No. 32, after Isolation.

HURI Books @huribooks.bsky.social · 3d

books.huri.harvard.edu/books/the-to...

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 2d

"It's possible we will see a mighty army along the borders of the Baltics, with the apparent goal of taking all three countries in three days to a week".

Baltic states plan for mass evacuations in case of a Russian attack

The three Baltic states are drawing up contingency plans to deal with the possibility of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing a troop buildup or attack.

www.reuters.com

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 7d

I love Oslo:)

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 8d

"Western intelligence have evidence that Russia discussing NATO attack, says EU defense commissioner".

As I said yesterday: our only hope lies in the professionals in the European intelligence services.

Western intelligence have evidence that Russia discussing NATO attack, says EU defense commissioner - Euromaidan Press

EU Defense Commissioner Kubilius says Ukraine's startup-based defense industry offers NATO members critical lessons in drone warfare and rapid innovation.

euromaidanpress.com

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

"Drones over Poland;

MiG fighters traversing Estonian airspace;

telecom cables damaged deep beneath the Baltic Sea;

airports paralysed by cyber-attacks and quadcopters;

mysterious explosions and assassinations;

bot swarms pumping out propaganda to disrupt elections":

Vladimir Putin is testing the West—and its unity

NATO must resist Russia’s efforts to corrode it from within

www.economist.com

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

Too many people here own homes, cars, and businesses to believe such a thing...

Our only hope is that professionals in the European intelligence services are capable of conveying the true state of affairs to the leaders of their countries.
9/9

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

...for the May holidays right before the Russian invasion.

But I also realized something else: most people can't be convinced of these things until they happen.

That's where the questions about international law for prisoners come from, given your story about wires tied to your body.
8/9

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

- let the regular army fight” doesn’t work;
that the Russians are capable of opening a front in the Baltic states, even while being bogged down near a village in Donbas.

After all, it was foolish not to learn from Ukraine's mistakes; its leadership called for preparations...
7/9

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

and now - most likely - even the Czech Republic might decide that it’s not worth going to war for Estonia or Lithuania; that spending months arguing about how to change the laws just to be able to shoot down a Russian drone over Munich was madness;
that the philosophy of “I paid my taxes...
6/9

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

that civilian airports could be paralyzed; that hundreds of Russian drones could suddenly launch from trucks in Germany and France - just like Ukrainian ones did in Russia.

They can’t imagine that the U.S. might call for negotiations, or that Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey,
5/9

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

...strongly resembles the mood in Europe today.

People here simply can't imagine that an internet cable in The Baltic Sea could be destroyed and Northern Europe will be without internet; that missiles could strike military bases currently being watched by Russian reconnaissance drones;
4/9

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

And then, a week later, at four in the morning, through the sound of Russian missile explosions, I asked in confusion, "What is this?" And over the phone, he simply said, "This is war."

This feeling of endless peace and stability - the belief that nothing can truly go wrong... -
3/9

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

I joked that it's not great, since I don't have any of that, but I also don't believe in an invasion, since the concentrated Russian forces were not enough to occupy Ukraine and take Kyiv, and Putin is an experienced KGB man and should understand this.
2/9

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 9d

A week before the invasion, my friend asked me:

- I don't believe there will be an invasion, but I have a question: maybe that's because I have my own house, car, and business, and I can't believe it could all end in one day? You don't have any of this - how do you assess the situation?".
1/9

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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 10d

And the only thing you need to know in Russian captivity is how to minimize the electric shocks during interrogation.
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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 10d

Dear friends and fellow journalists, please understand: in the case of the Russians, we are not dealing with the civilized part of humanity.

We are dealing with those who are returning the tortured body of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, missing her brain, eyeballs, and trachea.
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Stanislav Aseyev @stanislavaseyev.bsky.social · 10d

In London, I was asked:
- Can knowledge of international law help Ukrainian soldiers in captivity?

I replied that the answer to your question is the topic of one of my lectures, namely, "Characteristics of victim behavior during torture interrogation."
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