Thread by @ukraine_world

The story of the writer and public figure Volodymyr Vakulenko, who was kidnapped by Russian invaders from his home in the village of Kapytolivka, Kharkiv Oblast. #UkraineWorldTesimony 1/13

Seven months ago, on March 24, the Ukrainian writer Volodymyr Vakulenko was disappeared by the Russian occupiers. Since then, nothing is known about him. UkraineWorld spoke with Volodymyr's stepfather Vasyl. 2/13

The first time, Volodymyr and his child Vitaly, who has an autism spectrum disorder, were taken away by the Russians on March 23. They were released after three hours. 3/12

Volodymyr felt that the invaders would come back for him, so he hid all his valuables: a large collection of coins and his laptop. Under a cherry tree in his garden, Volodymyr buried his war diary, saying to his stepfather: "Give it back when our guys come." 4/13

The next day, more aggressive Russians came to Volodymyr's home, took him away, and never returned him. Vasyl wanted to stop the Russians from kidnapping his son, but one of the soldiers said to him, "I will shoot your knees right now." 5/13

"When we realized that the Russians had already captured Kupyansk, I told Volodya to take the child and leave here. But we could not convince him. He said: "I'm disabled, my child is disabled, we won't be touched," Vasyl recalls. 6/13

"We've already lived our lives, so we have nothing to lose. But Volodya was still young, he had a small son, he is a famous writer and would definitely find a safe place for himself," Volodymyr Vakulenko's stepfather said. 7/13

However, Volodymyr was a volunteer, helped the Armed Forces of Ukraine, delivered food to the checkpoints of our military. He always said that "this is his land". 8/12

After Volodymyr's abduction, his parents went everywhere they could to find information about their son. The Russians set up a torture chamber in the basement of a kindergarten in Kapytolivka. Volodymyr's parents looked for him there, but they were told that he was not there.9/13

One day, the neighbors overheard a Russian commander talking about Volodymyr. "He's so stubborn, you can't break him," they said. 10/13

Kapytolivka was under Russian occupation for more than six months. "We came to liberate you," the occupiers told Volodymyr's stepfather at the beginning of the invasion. But in fact, they liberated the village from gas, electricity, water and a peaceful life. 11/13

Fortunately, the 🇺🇦 army liberated the village in September. On Sept. 24, Volodymyr Vakulenko's colleagues, together with Vasyl, unearthed the writer's diary, buried in the garden the day before his arrest. The diary is being kept temporarily at the Kharkiv Literary Museum. 12/13

Nothing is known about Volodymyr's location or condition. The writer's parents are taking care of their grandson and hope to see their son again one day. 13/13