A desperate Ukrainian woman has spoken about the pain of learning that her brother is being held captive by Russian soldiers in Kyiv after he was beaten and taken away with a bag over his head.
She has had no further information about the well-being of her brother, who is also a dad, since he was captured nearly two weeks ago while hiding in a basement with his family.
Anna Khobta, 29, who has lived in Argentina with her parents for 22 years, said her brother Oleksandr Khobta lives in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and has been taken prisoner.
Oleksandr lives in Kyiv with his wife and their son.
Anna said: “On 24th February when Russia invaded, we were communicating with him via our family group on WhatsApp.”
At around 2am, Oleksandr wrote: “Russia has invaded us, we are hiding.”
A few hours later he said: “We are on our way to a bunker.”
However, as the days passed, the family lost communication with Oleksandr and the last time they heard anything was on 4th March.
Anna said: “They were staying in a basement on the outskirts of Kyiv. The last time we heard anything was on 4th March. We received a message from an unknown person saying they were alive.”
Oleksandr turned 40 years old on 10th March, however, he had already been captured by Russian soldiers by then.
Anna explained: “On Saturday, his wife contacted us telling us that Russian soldiers found them in the basement on 5th March.
“My brother’s phone was taken from him, he was beaten and taken away with a bag over his head.
“My brother is currently being held captive by Russian soldiers somewhere in Kyiv.
“That is the latest information we have.”
Anna said that his wife, their 11-year-old son, and her parents managed to escape, adding: “They not only took my brother, but all the civilians there. Russian soldiers took their phones to check what information there is about the war.
“No one wants to give us their exact locations out of fear because they are tracking cell phones.”
Anna said that her sister-in-law and her parents are hiding in a basement with practically no food and that they are reluctant to try to make it to Poland because “they don’t dare”.
