Hundreds of People Have Disappeared in Eastern Ukraine

http://mashable.com/2014/06/30/hundreds-kidnapped-eastern-ukraine/

Hundreds of People Have Disappeared in Eastern Ukraine

DONETSK, Ukraine – On a bench in a courtyard shaded by large poplars, Tanya takes a long drag of her skinny cigarette and pauses as she holds the smoke in her lungs. Then, enunciating each word slowly with the exhale, she tells me: “They took him.”

The morning of her husband’s disappearance in late May was like any other: he awoke at dawn and dressed in the police uniform she had pressed for him the night before. He wolfed down the breakfast of sausage and salad she had prepared, and then kissed her goodbye.

It was the last time she saw him.

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In the course of this conflict, pro-Russian militants have kidnapped hundreds of activists, journalists, police and civilians, human rights observers estimate, though exact numbers are hard to come by. Some abductees have been released after a few hours, days or weeks in captivity. On Friday, observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe were freed, having been held hostage for a month.

But many others — especially local Ukrainians — remain in captivity, hidden inside dark and dank basements, suffering in horrific conditions
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