The Ukrainian paramedic spoke about the conditions of detention in the Donetsk pretrial detention center.
=”Keep calm and believe in the return — Tyra gave advice to the relatives of captured defenders of Ukraine” />
The famous Ukrainian paramedic Yulia Paevska with the call sign “Tyra” told DW in an interview about three months in captivity, about what helped her not to break down, and also gave advice to the relatives of those defenders of Ukraine who are still in captivity of the occupiers.
According to Tyra, she was in a cramped cell with 21 women in the Donetsk SIZO, they were tortured. None of them had information about families and children.
However, despite heavy psychological and physical pressure, most of them behaved very dignified.
Yulia said that a female doctor in the seventh month of pregnancy is currently being held captive by the occupiers.
“I think that she still has slightly improved conditions, because we were not even allowed to sit down during the day, we had to stand. And you could sleep from 10 in the evening until 6 in the morning. But in reality, the repulse was given later, and the wake-up call was earlier. You could sit only on small benches, where all 22 women would not fit, a maximum of six thin girls could sit there. You have to change and it is constantly checked so that you are not sitting. If you sit down, they punish you – first they shout, and then they can come in and do something,” she recalls.
There were no conditions for a normal existence in captivity: during the entire time, Tyra had absolutely nothing, no something comfortable for a woman.
“What I was wearing was one set of underwear, one pair of pants, sneakers and a little bit of clothes, and that was it,” says Tyra.
Survive the horrors of captivity and not to lose hope and dignity helped Yulia Paevska to know that Ukraine exists, that we did not give up.
“All three months, very, very rarely – maybe once every two weeks – information came from the theater of operations. I understood during all these three months: the front line has advanced, maybe ten kilometers, that is, practically nothing is changing. And then came the information that the Russians had withdrawn from Kyiv. And the understanding that my country is so victorious, so cool that it resists this monster, supported me. I also felt that many people supported me, I felt this strength. Thank heaven for everyone,” she says.
Read also: The mass media published a video shot by a now-captured doctor from Mariupol in the first weeks of the war
The woman advises those whose relatives are still in captivity of the occupiers to keep calm and believe in their return. Because love, faith and hope that everything will happen correctly crosses any borders and walls.
“And trust the state, because the state will not abandon you. You have to believe, you have to wait, and God forbid condemning, at least on a subconscious level, a person who has been captured. Because the circumstances are very different, we have no right to judge those who are there. You have to love them, wait for them and do everything to bring this return closer,” concludes Tyra.
Read also: If a soldier was captured – step-by-step instructions for relatives appeared
Yulia Paevska was captured on March 16.
On June 17, President Zelensky announced the release of Tyra from captivity.
A few days later, Tyra recorded a video in which she talked about her stay in captivity .
