Mariana Checheliuk’s family said she suffered unspeakable hardships.
A Ukrainian police officer collapsed when she stepped onto her country’s soil after being freed from Russian captivity. Mariana Checheliuk, 24, was released on Friday during a prisoner of war (POW) exchange between Kiev and Moscow, Pravda Ukrainian reported. Seventy-four other prisoners of war were released along with her. Ms. Checheliuk, an investigator with the Ukrainian National Police, had been in captivity for more than two years, the media outlet further said. The group was sent by bus to the northern region of Sumy.
The police officer was seen in tears after being presented with a bouquet of flowers wrapped in the Ukrainian flag and embraced by the population. Photos of his arrival were posted on Instagram by Julia Pavlyuk, head of the Central Regional Center of the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Ms. Checheliuk’s family said she suffered unspeakable hardships and that her health condition worsened in captivity.
“Despite treatment in the pre-trial detention center, including antibiotic injections, his health did not improve,” his mother, Nataliia, told the newspaper. ZMINA news agency in January, citing letters his daughter was allowed to send to her family while detained in Russia.
“She lost a lot of weight, her immune system weakened, her hair started falling out and she suffered from amenorrhea,” Nataliia said.
The woman later said Pravda Ukrainian that her daughter “was starved, beaten and subjected to other forms of abuse.”
New York Post Office said Checheliuk and her sister were taken prisoner while hiding from Russian bombings at the Azovstal steelworks in April 2022. While the 24-year-old was detained in prisoner of war camps, her sister was rescued.
The media outlet also said that Moscow tried to get Checheliuk to defect, but the officer rejected all offers and continued to suffer in prisoner of war camps.
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