New Eastern Europe Issue 1

Tomasz Kułakowski, The Beheading of Stalin Report
Th at is how he met members of the Trizubovtsev organisation. None of them
live in Zaporizhia, but about a dozen people here sympathise with them. “Th e organisation
decided that participants from other cities would take part in the beheading,”
explains Edik. “Th ey contacted me because, as a local, I could point out
the monument. Th at is all.” He explains that in Zaporizhia, where everyone knows
each other, a person who comes from
a diff erent city is harder to catch.
Th e offi cers pressed him for the names
of the people who blew up Stalin. Th ey
were not interested in who had cut off
the dictator’s head, even though the Trizubovtsev immediately claimed credit for
this. Th e SBU linked the two events and said it was looking for “terrorists”. Edik
knew nothing. To this day, the perpetrators of the explosion have not been found.
Nobody knows who they are.
A police patrol car was waiting in front of the building. Th e police picked up
Edik because they were leading an investigation on the dictator’s beheading. According
to the offi cial version, the police initiated the investigation on its own. Th e
Communists did not report the off ence. Edik and other residents of Zaporizhia
say, however, that the police were inspired by Alexey Baburin, a local member of
the Communist Party of Ukraine and a Member of Parliament. Baburin is a politician
and an activist with contacts in many circles. His friends work for the state
and local governments as well as the justice system.
“So this is how I ended up in temporary isolation. It’s a legacy of the Soviet Union,
targets that belong to the regional offi ces of the Ministry of Internal Aff airs.
During the hearings they urged me to admit to the attack on Stalin’s bust. Th ey
threatened that I would never leave prison. But it was not that bad. I experienced
mainly verbal aggression,” he says.
“Th ey did not beat you?”
“Yes. On the head and on the legs. Th ey handcuff ed me and twisted my hands
back, it’s what they call a ‘swallow’. Th ey choked me by putting a plastic bag
around my head cutting off my air supply. Th ey know how to torture without
leaving a trace”.
Edik spent seventeen days in temporary confi nement even though the law forbids
detaining a suspect for more than ten days unless the court gives a decision
to extend this deadline. An extra week was added without explanation. After that
they informed him that he would be relocated to jail.
Edik’s mom, Nina Andryushchenko, recalls this terrible time. “When the SBU
came and raided our home, I became convinced that nationalism is a crime. Th ey
treated us like bandits. In time, I understood that the SBU did not know about the
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To this day, the perpetrators of the
explosion have not been found.