A Ukrainian civilian resistance fighter arrested by Russians refused to break under torture.
He and other civilians burned Russian vehicles and collected whatever weapons they could find after Russian troops swarmed the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson. The survivor, who 60 Minutes is not identifying for safety reasons, said Russian soldiers shocked him with electricity and nearly broke his arms. They demanded he give up the names of other members of the Ukrainian resistance, but the man, who's since joined the army, kept quiet.
"Because they're young guys, they have families, children. And I am Ukrainian," he said through a translator. "I just couldn't."
Clawing back Kherson
Russian troops occupied Kherson, the capital city of a region with the same name, for eight months, moving into the city just days after the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. Kherson rebelled from the start. Citizens armed with flags confronted Russian tear gas and bullets.
Wedding planner Vitalii, who asked to be identified only by his first name, recruited 10 friends –including a farmer, a coffee shop owner and a firefighter– for a team of civilian resistance fighters. Most of them had never loaded a gun.
"So that was our team, different people, different in age and social status," Vitalii said.
They improvised a base near the Dnipro River and ran hit-and-run raids, including an attack on a small Russian boat. Vitalii claims the unit killed a major, a captain, two lieutenants, a senior sergeant and a soldier during the attack.
Vitalii, now in Ukraine's special forces, feels strongly about defending his home country.
"Someone at the top decided that they could come to your home, tell you how to live your life, rape your wife, kill your child, smash your fields with tanks and lay mines," he said about Russia. "You are bloody savages! No more, no less. Why defend my people? I was brought up this way."
Borys Silenkov, a former governor of the province, also quickly joined the fight. The army told Silenkov that at 62, he was too old to enlist, but age didn't stop the retired politician from defending his country.
- Ukrainians defend Kherson, target Russians after forming group of civilian resistance fighters
Silenkov made Molotov cocktails he said were later thrown down the hatch of a Russian-armored vehicle.
"I told myself, 'No. I won't flee. This is my land. This is my region,'" Silenkov said.
Facing the threat of execution
One night, a retired individual turned resistance fighter was ambushed and shot. Fortunately, his bulletproof jacket stopped two bullets, but he sustained bruises on his chest. Another bullet caused a fracture in his leg, resulting in torn skin and muscles. With a stick clenched between his teeth, he heated up a knife and proceeded to "cut off all the loose muscles" before stitching himself back up. The reason behind his actions was simple: he knew that if he surrendered, he would be tortured to death.
Another resistance fighter, who remains anonymous for safety reasons, was arrested and subjected to torture alongside her partner. Her hands were tied up while vodka was poured down her throat. According to her partner, the Russians burned her legs with boiling water.
"They put a gun to my eyes and said, 'I'm going to shoot you!' I wanted him to shoot me, I wanted it to happen quickly, not to be tortured," she said through a translator. "I was only thinking about my children, so that [the Russians] don't get hold of them. I only thought about my children."
The Russians eventually released the woman and her partner after thoroughly searching their home and finding no evidence. The couple frequently wiped their phones clean to ensure no clues or leads could be obtained by the Russians.
Taking a stand
While some civilians joined the resistance, others volunteered for the army. Overnight, they transformed into soldiers, hastily donning uniforms without any insignia. Despite their lack of ammunition and training, they confronted elite Russian troops.
Free from occupation, but still under fire
While the Russians retreated from Kherson in November of last year, the city's residents are still under fire almost every day from enemy artillery positioned about a mile away. As of Dec. 4, there have been 23,315 shellings in the region, including 2,330 in the city of Kherson this year, according to the Kherson Military Administration
Defiant Ukrainians Continue to Resist Russian Occupation
As the situation in Ukraine remains tense, reports indicate that a Russian shell hit a building in Kherson, causing damage to a city bus and resulting in casualties. Sadly, two innocent lives were lost in this attack - an infant girl who was just 23 days old and a 12-year-old boy. These tragic deaths add to the growing list of victims of Russian shelling in the region over the past few months, as reported by Ukraine's Internal Affairs Ministry.
Despite Russia's occupation of nearly 20 percent of Ukraine, the spirit of resistance among the Ukrainian people remains strong. Olha Hrynchenko, a former winery worker who joined the military after Russia's invasion, expressed the daily struggle faced by Ukrainians. "We live one day at a time today," she said. "We don't have any plans for the future. We understand that we have to be strong and patient and live in this reality we have now. That's it."
