Yuliy Mamchur a Colonel commander at the Ukrainian air force base of Belbek near Sevastopol was abducted by Putin's Russian thugs. © Anastasia Vlasova
Wife Of Freed Ukraine Commander Says He Resisted Pressure To Switch Sides -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Ukrainian Colonel Yuliy Mamchur spent four days under Russian custody in Crimea in an empty single room, deprived of sleep and under constant pressure to switch sides, his wife said on Thursday, a day after he was unexpectedly released.
For many Ukrainians devastated by Moscow's seizure of Crimea, the 42-year-old commander of a Ukrainian tactical air brigade became a symbol of resistance, refusing for weeks to surrender his base to heavily armed Russian special forces.
"He called me last night. He said he was alive and healthy, that everything was fine and that he was now waiting for all of us," Larisa Mamchur told Reuters outside her husband's former base in Belbek, which now flies a Russian flag.
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Update #1: Ukraine finds new hero in commander of air force base who stood up to Russia -- FOX News/AP
Update #2: Yuliy Mamchur: They kept me in single confinement cell, tried to convince to commit treason -- Charter 97
My Comment: This could have ended very badly for everyone .... but Ukrainian Colonel Yuliy Mamchur is a professional soldier and he acted his part. His Russian counterparts also acted the same way by not crossing the line that you should never cross .... I guess they were also aware of the consequences of what they were doing and what could happen if everything goes wrong. But Yuliy Mamchur is the public face of this confrontation .... he is also now a Ukrainian hero .... and he will be remembered for all time for what he did.
Update #3: This is very telling (from Mach 5, 2014) .... Ukraine's hero colonel insists he was just doing his duty -- The Telegraph
This was a fairly deft move (and a little surprising to me) by the Russians. Remove from the center of turmoil a figure the opposition could rally around and then release him unharmed (I would like this confirmed). In the bad old days he would have been removed and disappeared. If harm had come to him and became public knowledge the entire PR landscape would have completely changed.
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