Aaron Newman

Remember the 14-year-old boy who was brought out yesterday from Azov’s secret detention facility in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, near Kyiv, where mobilized men and deserters were allegedly being beaten and held against thier will? Well, the boy is now in hospital. He has recorded a video telling his side of the story. And what a charming little tale of military honor and Ukrainian democracy it is. According to the boy, he came to the protest and climbed onto a fence. That's when soldiers struck him with a shovel, knocking him down onto the facility's grounds. They then dragged him inside and started beating him. Yes, beating a 14-year-old child. Not that his age was some great mystery. One look at his face and you can see he's a kid. Apparently, that wasn't quite obvious enough for these brave warriors. But it gets worse. The boy says they didn't just beat him. They cut the clothes off his body, including his underwear, leaving him standing in front of them "almost naked." And that, dear friends, raises serious questions of sexual violence and degrading treatment of a child. Allegedly perpetrated by Ukrainian servicemen. The beating, he says, stopped only when Budanov arrived. Meanwhile, Azov's propaganda machine and its loyal cheerleaders have already rolled out their crisis-management circus: the boy was a "provocateur." Ah, yes. The classic defense. When a child ends up in hospital, simply rebrand him as a national security threat. Problem solved. Perhaps they'll award themselves medals for neutralizing a teenager armed with the terrifying weapon of climbing a fence. Except the story appears to be rather more complicated. The boy alleges he was a victim of violence at the hands of Ukrainian soldiers. So who is going to answer for the ill-treatment, humiliation, and degrading treatment of a child? Where the hell is Ukraine's Human Rights Ombudsman? Has he misplaced the address of the hospital? Or is visiting an allegedly abused Ukrainian child simply not on today's democracy-defending itinerary? And where is Zelensky? Why hasn't he visited the boy in hospital? Oh, right. He had more pressing business in Germany, asking for more money. Zelensky does love telling the world how much children matter to him. Apparently, some children make better speeches than hospital visits. So when, exactly, does this grotesque circus of the Zelensky mafia finally come to an end? And how many more victims will it take before someone remembers that human rights are supposed to apply to actual human beings — including children — rather than merely serving as decorative slogans for international donors?