The New York Times Magazine - USA (2022-01-23)

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obviously foreign soldiers in unmarked uni-

forms. Then he started to notice that critics of

the D.P.R. were disappearing. He began hearing

about the basements. You could fi nd yourself in

one for something as simple as writing a Face-

book post critical of Russia or the D.P.R.

‘‘It took me a while to emerge from my indoc-

trination,’’ he said.

Aseev began writing pseudonymous dis-

patches for a Ukrainian website. They were

widely read, and they found their way onto

Russian social media. Getting bolder, he began

adding photographs to his articles. One day in

2015, he was taking pictures in Donetsk’s city

center when he was stopped by a policeman.

Plainclothes agents arrived. He was bundled into

a car, and a burlap bag was placed over his head.

An agent told him, ‘‘You can’t imagine how many

people we’ve beaten, thinking they were you.’’

He was taken to the basement of a local

government building. For weeks, Aseev was

tortured and interrogated. He was beaten with

truncheons. The wires of a crank-powered fi eld

telephone were strapped to his thumbs and ears,

and he was shocked.

He noticed that while his captors were being

directed by a Russian, they were Ukrainian. He

was tried twice in a D.P.R. court for spying. The

trials lasted a few minutes, and each ended in

a 15-year sentence. Like his captors, the prose-

cutors and judges were Ukrainian. For the next

two and a half years, he was moved through a

series of prisons, including the most notorious,

known as Izoliatsiia.

Described in a recent United Nations human

rights report, Izoliatsiia was a perfect travesty

of the Stalinist era. The torture chambers and

solitary-confi nement cells were in old nuclear

fallout shelters. The prisoners were forced to

sing Soviet anthems. The commandant was a

‘‘psychopath in the classic mold,’’ Aseev said.

Most nights he would drink himself into a rage

and then beat prisoners or order prisoners

to beat one another while he watched. Aseev

believes he also raped female prisoners.

It wasn’t just critics of the occupation who

were inside. Many of his fellow prisoners were

Ukrainians who had supported the occupation

and joined D.P.R. forces. Some were Russian

nationals who had volunteered, believing in the

cause, he learned. Others had been mercenaries.

The regime was already turning on itself, para-

noid that even its devotees were spies or traitors.

Aseev was released in a prisoner exchange at

the end of 2019. President Zelensky awarded him

an apartment in Kyiv, where Aseev’s mother,

who was interrogated repeatedly while he was

imprisoned, recently joined him.

‘‘The thing is, the Ukrainian government

doesn’t know what it’s up against,’’ he told me.

‘‘They have this optimistic belief that they can

end the war and free Donetsk and Luhansk. This

isn’t going to happen. Russia has the resources

to sustain this confl ict for decades.’’

The Ukrainian-controlled portions of Donbas

are still shot through with secessionist senti-

ment. Many of the people who supported seces-

sion in 2014 are still around, including offi cials.

Some of them still hold offi ce. In an eff ort to

purge Donbas of the worst off enders, the Zelen-

sky government has suspended local elections

in the region, a move that has earned rebukes

from democracy advocates.

Ukrainian prosecutors have brought hun-

dreds of cases against Ukrainians in Donbas for

treason and sedition. Some of the defendants

have fl ed to Russia, but many have stayed. Few

have faced full trials, and only a handful have

been sentenced. When I asked a judicial activ-

ist in Kyiv why this was, she said she believed

46

SPELLING BEE

Outright (3 points). Also: Grout, ought, outhit, rotgut,

rough, thorough, though, thought, through, throughout,

tough, trough, trout, truth, tutor. If you found other

legitimate dictionary words in the beehive, feel free to

include them in your score.

PLAYING THE HITS

Answers to puzzles of 1.16.22

Answers to puzzle on Page 48

ACROSTIC

A. Whiteout

B. Iconic

C. Lean on

D. Kowtows

E. Egyptian

F. Rubicon

G. Sit-ins

H. Obama

I. Nowadays

J. Watchdog

K. “Amistad”

L. Rainey

M. Mystic

N. Two cents

O. Howling

P. Occupy

Q. Fives

R. Octavia

S. Twang

T. Hoosegow

U. Elocution

V. Roots

W. Shadowy

X. Uptown

Y. Nebo

Z. Suitcase

(ISABEL) WILKERSON, (THE) WARMTH OF OTHER
SUNS — In a symbolic... way, snow was to Chicago
what cotton was to Mississippi.... [W]here you saw snow
you by definition would not see cotton and vice versa.
Coming to Chicago was a guarantee that you would not
be picking cotton.

T H EMAN AM I GO S MO G A WW

BOV I NE T AROT E I RE BYE

S H E S NO T T H E R E A L C A P ON E

POSH INI I L L B E A ROUND

AHA B AL L I ES CUT E Y

T H E P OW E R O F L O V E CAL F

H UM P E TUN I A POS T AG E

AM E S AB E T C H R OM E CAT

WA R T O R N LIEIN REBA

E NGAG E DEV I L I NS I DE

DE E P EN UN I T I NG LUSTER

L E T S GOC R A Z Y I CEAXE

RAKE TUT E E C A T C HON

EL I CR I P E S TER I T I DE

F I S CHE R SWE E T I E TUG

SAAB JUDYINDISGUISE

D J I NN NO P E S T Z OO S

R UMO U R H A S I T PRE F AR E

L I ME K I L N C OM E O N E I L E E N

AC E AM E N E LATE SMA R T Y

OY E HERA SEXES P AGOD A

KENKEN

MAKING WAVES NORINORI

L A R D E R S

W A R LO R D

P A LMO I L

B U F F A L O

F L OR I D A

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Fill the grid with digits so as not to repeat a digit in any row or column, and so that the digits within each heavily outlined

box will produce the target number shown, by using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division, as indicated in the box.

A 5x5 grid will use the digits 1–5. A 7x7 grid will use 1–7.

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