‘I told the truth. If I had known this truth earlier, I would have said it earlier.’
Final Statements
‘I never held anti-Soviet views or convictions and never had the aim of weakening Soviet power.’
‘You may put me in prison, send me to a camp, but I am certain that no honest person will condemn me.’
‘I do not at present see any reason to prove my innocence with regard to the charges brought against me, since the greater part of them are absolutely unfounded and do not correspond to reality.’
‘Your power is based on lies and violence’
‘I decided to fight back. Ukraine is my home.’
'You’re not trying a terrorist in this court. You’re trying a musician, an artist, a pacifist.'
'What will we tell our children and grandchildren about these troubled times?'
'And please stop calling me a soldier. I do not want to associate with bio-trash.'
'I do repent, of course. Every day for a year and a half.'
'At the time I served, those territories, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), were officially part of Ukraine. Russia did not deny that.'
'I saw bags over people’s heads. Wires on their limbs. Broken ribs. Damaged kidneys. People beaten to death. Starvation for over a year. No medical help. People rotting alive—their arms, their legs. Lice and bedbugs. Two showers a year that we were allowed to, and after each one, we came out filthier than before. And beaten as well.'
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