Kidnapped Ukrainian Faces 10 Years in Russian Prison

28 July 2018 08:16

The 20—year—old was kidnapped in Belarus last August, when he traveled there to meet a girl he had met online.

Ukrainian political prisoner Pavlo Gryb was indicted during a court hearing in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don this week. The 20-year-old was kidnapped in Belarus last August, when he traveled there to meet a girl he had met online.

Now Gryb stands accused of abetting the girl – 18-year-old Tatiana Ershova – to commit an act of terrorism. He could face up to 10 years in prison.

According to the prosecution, Gryb, through online conversations, instructed Ershova to make an explosive and blow up a school during an assembly. She allegedly didn’t like “the teachers, students, and all Russians.”

Gryb, a pro-Kyiv activist and blogger, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The Ukrainian disappeared in August last year, after he went to meet Ershova in the Belarusian town of Gomel. He was then deported to Russia to face terrorism charges.

His family believes that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) used Ershova to lure Gryb across the border where he could be arrested. Ershova, who is a witness in Gryb’s case, is also facing criminal charges, but her case is currently suspended.

Photo credit: Pavel Kanugin/NOVAYA GAZETA

During the hearing Gryb passed on a message to Ukrainians, asking them not to forget the political prisoners in Russia.

Gryb’s mother Maria, who came to her son’s hearing this week, said she last she saw her son on April 22.

"Of course, he has changed. You know that his health is poor,” she said.

Gryb suffers from portal hypertension, a chronic illness that affects the function of his organs. Maria said they only managed to exchange a few words in Ukrainian.

Photo credit: Iryna Romaliiska/HROMADSKE

“The bailiff immediately reprimanded us: ‘Speak Russian! Otherwise you will be escorted out,’” she said.

Hromadske’s partner, Novaya Gazeta, sent special correspondent Pavel Kanygin to speak to Maria Gryb at the hearing.

Did you want to speak Ukrainian out of principle?

No, Pavlo just doesn’t really understand Russian. The case file says that he graduated from a Russian school, so investigators believe that he can freely speak the language. Yes, he can read, as long as it’s not anything difficult. Ukrainian is much easier for him. In his letters he complains to us: "Why aren’t you writing me in Ukrainian? I'm starting to forget the language!" But we write this way because the investigator said, if we write in Ukrainian, they would have to translate everything before handing the letter to Pavlo.

Have you been in contact with Pavlo’s girlfriend Tanya Ershova?

I haven’t, but I would very much like to look into the eyes of this girl, because of whom my son is slowly dying in prison. She’s happily living in her home in Sochi, enjoying life by the sea, everything is beautiful, and my son...

Photo credit: Pavel Kanugin/NOVAYA GAZETA

Why do you think her situation is a happy one?

Why not? She is a child, she is 17 years old, though she uses language in such a way in her comments, not every adult can think like that…

There is also a criminal case against her, which has been suspended. Are you aware of this?

Yes I know. And in Pavlo’s case she is a witness, so she will testify about Pavlo, that he is the only terrorist. This Tanya is a clever one... Pavlo wanted to help her. He once asked her what her mother does for work. She replied, “She works at the airport, but I don’t know as what.” How can that be? Is that normal? I don’t want to talk about her. All the best to her while she bathes in the sea.

Photo credit: screenshot

Marina Dubrovina [Hryb’s lawyer], said that you advised Pavlo to wear a hoodie during the court proceedings. What for?

Did you see the color of his face? It’s so sallow, and covered in lesions because his liver can’t cope. Pavlo is very worried about [his appearance], he doesn’t want people to see him like that. So I said, cover your head with the hood.

What do you think about a prisoner exchange?

I want to believe it will happen, but I don’t know… [Ukrainian political prisoner Oleg] Sentsov's mother wrote [Russian president Vladimir Putin] asking for pardon.

But I can’t really imagine a situation where my son would be told to ask for pardon. He would never do it out of principle. He would say, "It would be better to die than to ask."

Would you write on his behalf?

Probably not. And you know, it’s a matter of character. My son once said, "I will die, I won’t live long anyway." That was his premonition, which he wrote in his autobiography when he was still studying at [the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy]. He always said to me, "I'll get an education, start a career, I'll have a wife, this and that, family, a car – and what? You have to leave something behind, some kind of achievement. And not just disappear, scattered, like a grain of sand, which no one remembers."

He even wanted to set aside some of his scholarship money to help people from the anti-terrorist operation zone [in war-torn eastern Ukraine]. You see, he always had his own way of thinking. Of course, I had taken notice of his interests before. But, please understand, he had no desire to blow up a school. These children seriously didn’t have any plans of the sort. Tanya knows this very well. They just threw this case together out of nothing.

/Translated be Natalie Vikhrov