Interview with a traitor: A resident of Chasovoy Yar served time for supporting the "DNR" and has now aligned himself with Russia.

A resident of Chasiv Yar, Alexander Fomich, transmitted data about the placement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to Russians in 2022. He was caught by SBU officers and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Why did he decide to help the enemy, what was he doing in 2014, and how does he justify Moscow? – in an interview with RBK-Ukraine.

For decades, Russia has attempted to instill various complexes in Ukrainians, including an inferiority complex. The main and repeatedly echoed narrative was that Russians are brothers to Ukrainians, and for some reason, the older ones. Alongside this, phrases emerged suggesting that Ukraine essentially survives on Russia's resources, and modern Ukrainians owe almost everything to the Soviet Union.

Simultaneously, the agenda and Ukrainian television were filled with Russian products. Series, movies, songs, and programs produced in Russia became entrenched in the Ukrainian television network. Events that occurred in 2014 forced many Ukrainians to reassess their relationship with Russia. It ceased to be seen as a friendly country and became an aggressor state. Those who believed in the "militia" in Donbas until the last moment were convinced otherwise by the full-scale invasion of Russian troops in 2022.

However, even after the onset of the large-scale war with Russia, there are still people in Ukraine who believe in Moscow's good intentions and are willing to assist the enemy. One of them is 35-year-old Alexander Fomich. In 2014, while living in Chasiv Yar, he decided to join the ranks of the "militia," for which he later served five years in prison. In 2022, staying true to his principles and beliefs, he again came to the aid of the occupiers. A few months after the invasion, Fomich and his wife transmitted data about the placement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For this, Alexander was accused of treason and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Today, Fomich is serving time in a penal colony in the Zaporizhzhia region. He denies that Russia kills civilians, and when denial is no longer possible, he justifies it. In his paradigm, Russian soldiers are defending Ukraine from NATO, the European Union, and from itself. During a trip to Zaporizhzhia, RBK-Ukraine, with the assistance of security services, managed to talk to Fomich about how he came to help the enemy and what kind of life awaits him in the near future.

Bad European Union and Good Russia

The Zaporizhzhia colony is located not far from the regional center – gray blocks of buildings with barbed wire and a guard tower. We are greeted by the head of the colony, who leads us through the corridors. "Convict Fomich Alexander Vitalyevich. A purely ideological guy. Just the kind you wanted."

In the green-painted corridors, there is a smell of bleach, and each block ends with a grate that is opened to let us in and then immediately closed. We flinch a little, and the head pats the photo correspondent on the shoulder, saying, "It's cozy here, really! We even grow roses over there."

We are taken to a visitation room. This is a bright room divided into sectors – each sector has a soft corner similar to those once placed in kitchens, and a table. While we are setting up the cameras, Fomich is brought into the room. He is a short guy with a sullen face. His gaze constantly wanders somewhere below our faces, and his movements are stiff and sparse. We greet him, introduce ourselves, and ask him to sit down.

– How was your childhood?

– Like everyone else's. Fun, exciting. I had many friends.

– Did you study after school?

– In vocational school, for electrical engineering. Everyone in our city worked at the refractory plant, and we decided that we would work there.

– Did you plan to move from the city?

– No, never, I was satisfied with my city.

– In 2014, when the events began, what were you doing?

– I worked like everyone else. But I worked unofficially; the plant was closed. I traveled around Ukraine – construction, repairs.

– How did you react to the start of the war?

– Very badly, I didn't think anything through. In 2014, all my acquaintances wanted to break away from Ukraine and create their own republic. So I decided to do the same.

For most of the conversation, Alexander appears detached. The prospect of being published seems to attract him little. But there are topics that quickly provoke a reaction from Fomich. One of them is the European Union. In his view, Europe is a pit, and joining the EU would be a big mistake for us. It goes without saying that Alexander has no arguments to support this view.

– We should have created our own country and developed it. If we consider ourselves independent, then we should correspondingly develop our own. Not looking elsewhere, as they say… You know, in our village, the elderly used to say – why look at your neighbor's garden? Don't look at the stranger's, but at your own. That's how we should look at our own country and see what has been happening since the 90s when the Union collapsed, and there were a lot of republics.

Everything fell apart, and what happened to our republic? What happened? Ruins, decay, everything went from state property into private hands. Where have we ended up? In bourgeoisie. If you read history, the same writers – Hrabovsky, Kotliarevsky, they ridicule all this. We have already plunged into history; we need to build something of our own, not look right or left. That’s why we decided. This country pulls us down, so why should we fall?

– And the European Union is the bottom?

– Of course, it is the bottom. No matter how well they live there, like in Kyiv, life is good, but go to the depths, and everything is bad. Ruins, people are leaving, people are fleeing to big cities. Villages have collapsed, collective farms have fallen apart; in 30 years, we haven’t built anything new. That’s why we decided this way.

At the same time, Fomich speaks warmly about life in the "young republics." Since 2014, they have been "reviving" mines and factories, restoring bridges and entire economic sectors. As proof, Alexander cites the example of utility prices in controlled territories versus those under occupation.

– In 2014, you decided to create a republic; what did you specifically do?

– Specifically, I went to Sloviansk and saw everything with my own eyes, not just on television.

– And what did you see?

– Horror.

– Russian troops entered there, if I remember correctly?

– I don't know, I didn't see Russian troops; I mostly saw boys who were untrained.

– Do you know who Girkin is?

– Some Strelkov, of course, I know. Well, he is a retired colonel of the Russian Federation.

– What was he doing in Sloviansk?

– He commanded a bunch of amateurs and a gang of untrained people who knew nothing.

– So you went there to see for yourself, and what happened next?

– I came back to my city. There, guys started gathering a militia unit. I decided to participate. We built a checkpoint, standing at the entrance and exit to prevent weapons from being brought into the city. Then Ukraine launched an offensive, taking Sloviansk and Kramatorsk...

Fomich's narrative is very familiar and clichéd – the "militia" took weapons from military units, and there were no Russians on the territory; people decided to "self-determine," and the "Kyiv regime" forbade them. After expressing himself on this matter, Alexander sighs and makes an unflattering conclusion – there is no freedom of speech in Ukraine, as the residents of Donbas were not given the opportunity to separate.

After Fomich decided to participate in the creation of the "