Good thing he is safe. Others not so lucky.
Via Vice:
On Thursday, armed gunmen who held me prisoner for four nights and three days released me into the streets of Sloviansk, in eastern Ukraine. My release was as unexplained as my capture.
On Monday night I was pulled out of a car at a checkpoint, then blindfolded, beaten, and tied up with tape. After spending hours alone on the floor of a damp cell with my hands tied behind my back and a hat pulled over my eyes, I was led into a room where I was accused of working for the CIA, FBI, and Right Sector, the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist group.
When I refused to give the password to my laptop, I was smacked in the arm with a truncheon. When I was asleep on the floor, masked men came to wake me up and tell me how no one would miss me if I died, and then kicked me in the ribs as they left.
But as it turns out, I had it pretty easy, because I was let go.
According to the Kyiv Post, 16 people have been kidnapped in the past couple of weeks, allegedly by the pro-Russians. Some, like Simon, have since been released, but two were tortured and killed, including a city council member.
The pro-Russian mayor of Sloviansk admits they were holding nine people.