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The detention of Oleksandr Babych

Oleksandr Babych was the mayor of Hola Prystan, a city in Southern Ukraine. Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and Hola Prystan was occupied in the first few days of the war.

People quickly started to flee and the city’s resources began to deplete. Despite having the opportunity to leave with his family, Oleksandr felt duty-bound to stay and help those who hadn’t, or couldn’t leave.

In the weeks leading up to his detention, Oleksandr coordinated the delivery of groceries to the city, dispersed hot lunches to vulnerable people, and even organised patrols when crime arose from a lack of police presence. All the while, he continued to fulfil his duties as mayor.

Oleksandr helped keep the city alive, because at that point, there was hope that the invasion wouldn’t last long, Olha explained.

However, the day his wife and children made it to safety was the day he was captured by Russian forces.

Olha and their three children managed to escape the town and sought refuge with a host family on 28th March 2022. When they made it, Olha called up Oleksandr to let him know everyone was okay. He was instantly relieved. “He felt that now that we are safe, everything is going to be fine,” she told Lovin Malta.

However, during the phone call, Olha heard armed people enter their home and the last thing her husband told her was: “I cannot talk, they came to get me after all.”

Since that day, nobody has directly heard from Oleksandr. The only sign of his wellbeing was a note scribbled on toilet paper and given to a person who says to have shared a prison cell with him. Olha received a photo of the note on 7th April, 2023 and it contained his whereabouts, condition, love for Ukraine and belief that he will return.

It is believed that Oleksandr is, or at least was, being held in Simferopol Detention Center 2 in occupied Crimea, according to former detainees. Russia has refused to provide any information about Oleksandr’s whereabouts or confirm that he is in their custody.  The lack of any formal charge indicates that he is being unlawfully detained and totally incommunicado.

Olha shared her story in Ta’ Qali two weeks ago alongside other victims of this war, including former prisoners of war who managed to escape.

She’s confident that their part in the major international meeting “will not go to waste and will lead to something. This is really necessary.”

While speaking to Lovin Malta, she was asked about rumours of a peace-deal potentially negotiated by US President-Elect Donald Trump which would allegedly allow Russia to keep the regions it occupied. She made two clear points:

“There is a saying: If you let them bite your finger off, they will bite your hand and then your whole arm off. That is what they will do.”

But also, she continued, “this is not just territory, it’s people”.

“People who used to have wonderful lives in Ukraine and now somebody is occupying them and they’re living in a prison. If you ask me, we cannot just abandon them. I’m not Trump, and I’m not solving the fate of the world, but why should somebody deprive all those people of their lives and decide their fate like that. I don’t think they should be a bargain.”