Maksym Butkevych had to do compulsory military service at university; volunteering to fight at the start of the war in Ukraine, he was surprised to be put in charge of a platoon.
When human rights activist Maksym Butkevych decided to take up arms at the start of the war in Ukraine he was driven by a sense of duty. He went from defending the rights of refugees to becoming a prisoner of war - having his own rights denied in captivity. Maksym spent nearly two and a half years imprisoned, held in jails in Russian-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. As a unit commander he looked out for the welfare of his fellow prisoners. In the jail they had nothing, but practising English offered an escape.
Presenter Asya Fouks
Producer Julian Siddle
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Photo: Maksym Butkevych. Photo credit: Oleksandr Mahula
