Ukrainian survivor opens up with harrowing photo from Russian captivity

Mariana Checheliuk shared a photo from captivity

In the post, the girl indicated August 6, 2023. On this day, she was transferred from Taganrog to a women's correctional facility in temporarily occupied Mariupol.

"My hometown," she captioned it, adding a broken heart at the end.

In the photo, Mariana appears in a sports jacket, with her hair down, looking gaunt, and with bruises under her eyes. The photo includes her details: last name, first name, and patronymic.

"This pain is incomparable to anything. The first photo on the prisoner card. My smile is despair… The bruises under my eyes, pale, translucent skin are the consequences of torture, humiliation, and inhuman treatment," she shared.

Mariana Checheliuk during Russian captivity (photo: instagram.com/tvoya.yaa)

The only thing that warmed the girl's soul in the terrifying conditions was the fact that she was in her hometown.

"I was comforted by one thought: if this difficult path led me home, to my hometown, it's a sign that soon it will all be over," she recalled.

Ultimately, Mariana's suffering ended, and she returned home, though she is still struggling to recover from the trauma.

"1 year and 2 months since I've been Home," she noted.

This photo clearly demonstrates the consequences of how Russians treat Ukrainian prisoners. As Mariana admitted, it wasn't easy to bring it out.

"I smuggled the photo out in shoes, I don't know why, but I had the feeling that all this would soon end," she added.

Mariana Checheliuk in Ukraine (photo: instagram.com/tvoya.yaa)

Recall, the former investigator from Mariupol was taken after leaving Azovstal. She spent 25 months in captivity in Russia and was released as part of a swap on May 31, 2024. Earlier, she openly shared the details of her captivity.