The attitude of the administration of the russian VK No. 4 in the city of Puhachov towards prisoner Volodymyr Yakymenko has never been lenient. After the beginning of the new phase of the war, the pressure on him, as well as on many illegally sentenced Ukrainians, increased. Volodymyr, a former resident of Kherson region, was repeatedly forced to sign a renunciation of his Ukrainian citizenship and there were attempts to recruit him to the ranks of combat units of the russian army.

‍How Volodymyr feels now, what he talks about and where he finds the strength to hold on, the Association asked his wife, Alona Yakymenko, who has been fighting for his release for almost 5 years.

‍“Among the other prisoners, Volodymyr feels like a ‘black sheep’. It’s very difficult to communicate because you can feel the total support for the war against Ukraine in the air. Despite the fact that prisoners recruited into the russian army quickly return in packages, many still want to volunteer. The administration of the colony instructed chief prisoners to carefully monitor whether the others watch Ukrainian news, so that no doubts will arise,” says Alona.

She also adds that Volodymyr refuses to work for the aggressor country in the colony, for which he is reprimanded. At the beginning of this year, he was placed in SHIZO for 5 and 10 days several times for this.“As for the exchange of political prisoners, I and our family hope very much! But during wartime, I hardly believe it. I understand that now the priority is to return the military, but I am looking forward to the end of the war,” adds Yakymenko's wife.

‍Volodymyr Yakymenko is a taxi driver and AutoMaidan activist from the village of Chaplynka, Kherson region. After 2014, he was engaged in volunteer activities and helped the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as transported Crimeans who left the peninsula during the occupation. On June 11, 2017, when Yakymenko was crossing the border with the ARC once again, he was detained by russian security forces. The man was sentenced to 15 years in prison.