Tatiana Kumok, a Ukrainian-Israeli who was arrested with her parents in the city of Melitopol, where she has lived for the past six months, said on Wednesday: “Yesterday my father closed his newspaper, after 31 years. It has become very dangerous for journalists here.”
She accused the Russians of using “Nazi methods.”
Tatiana, 40, is a fashion designer, divorced without children. Her father is Ukrainian and Jewish, her mother Russian and non-Jewish. Tatiana made her first Aliyah to Israel in 2000. She stayed in the country for about a year and returned to Ukraine. Then, about ten years ago, she went back to Israel again and about six months ago returned to Melitopol and opened her own business there.
According to her, after the Russians had invaded her city, in southern Ukraine, “they demanded that the newspaper write what the Russians want, and he decided that if it was impossible to write the truth, then it would be better to close down.”
Tatiana and her parents were arrested on Monday by Russian forces, and released shortly thereafter. She believes the Russians targeted her father. “He is already retired, but he owns a print shop and a local newspaper,” she said. “The newspaper building is close to city hall. The Russians took over both buildings and the journalists started working from home.”
When her father was ordered to publish information provided by the Russians, he first played for time, telling the invaders he had to figure things out, think about it, “until, on Monday morning, my father called my mother, told her they had taken three journalists from their homes, and warned her he was next in line. That was indeed the case.”
Tatiana’s neighbors called her and said soldiers were going up to her parents’ apartment. “I live in the area, but in a different building,” she told Ma’ariv. “After a few minutes, Mom and Dad were no longer available on the phone. I called the newspaper manager because she is in touch with the Russians. I asked her to call them and threaten that if my parents were not returned within an hour – I would call my friends in Israel to inform them that Israeli citizens had been abducted. An hour later they came to pick me up too.”
“They came in even though I told them I did not invite them. I kept asking who they were, but they did not say exactly. It’s part of their game. They go without tags and ranks. They only have a white stripe on the uniform. They took us to a city-owned building they had taken over. Outside, for some reason, a Soviet flag was hung next to a Russian flag. They put us in a room with three soldiers, who ordered my mother to tell me to talk, because if not – my situation would be worse.” So, Tatiana gave in and told the Russians: “For Mother, I will tell you everything you want to know.”
“They kept repeating that it was not an occupation, that they came to help the city. It’s not clear why, of course. They asked me to pledge not to go out to demonstrations anymore and not to get involved in extremist actions. I pledged. It was important to them that I declare that they spoke to me respectfully and that I sign that we were not beaten. I signed. They really didn’t hit us. When they finally released us, they said we should come back the next day and collect our phones. We came the next day, but they did not return the phones.”
