A 24-year-old Ukrainian police officer named Mariana Checheliuk, abducted by the Russian forces and held in captivity for two years, has now returned home.
“They were trying to lure my daughter to the Russian side with both sweet promises of a big salary and intimidation.
Details on how her captivity enfolded, the report said, both Mariana and her younger sister were hiding from Russian bombardments within the Azovstal steelworks.
When Russians dicovered that Mariana was Ukrainian police officer, she was then transferred to the Donetsk pre-trial detention center.
In another video posted by Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, showed Mariana breaking down as she calls her mother.
A 24-year-old Ukrainian police officer named Mariana Checheliuk, abducted by the Russian forces and held in captivity for two years, has now returned home. This comes as the Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war on Friday, each sending back 75 POWs in the first such swap in the past three months.
Yuliia Pryimak, the Head of the Central Regional Centre of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, posted a video on Instagram showing Checheliuk breaking down in tears upon her release and being hugged by another Ukraine woman officer.
In January 2024, Mariana's mother, Nataliia had told ZMINA news that her daughter faced abuses and was beaten which she she got to know from her letters. “They were trying to lure my daughter to the Russian side with both sweet promises of a big salary and intimidation. But she refused," the mother said.
Her mother also revealed that Mariana suffered severe torture during captivity, including starvation, beatings, various abuses, which severely impacted her health, leading to chronic bronchitis. Speaking more on her daughter's condition, he mother said, “Mariana lost a lot of weight, her immune system weakened, her hair began to fall out, and her periods disappeared," as quoted by media reports.
The report further added that, despite her mother's efforts to communicate, Mariana received no letters and remained unaware of her family's condition or whereabouts.
Details on how her captivity enfolded, the report said, both Mariana and her younger sister were hiding from Russian bombardments within the Azovstal steelworks. After civilians were evacuated, the sisters were separated in a Russian filtration camp. When Russians dicovered that Mariana was Ukrainian police officer, she was then transferred to the Donetsk pre-trial detention center. She was later held in a POW camp in Olenivka and subsequently moved to prisons in Taganrog and Mariupol.
In another video posted by Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, showed Mariana breaking down as she calls her mother.
Meanwhile, the exchange of the 150 POWs in all was the fourth swap this year and the 52nd since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The United Arab Emirates said it helped negotiate this latest exchange. According to Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for Treatment of POWs, as reported by the Associated Press, Ukraine has now recovered a total of 3,210 military personnel and civilians through these exchanges, including the one on Friday.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
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