Yuri Josef Koszarycz

Mar 29, 2025

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧’𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 – 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞

Snizhana Vasylivna Ostapenko is a 23 year old Ukrainian soldier who was held by Moscow for 5 months. Now she is in Kramatorsk which is a frontline city and she is making a vow of revenge for the torture and humiliation she suffered in Russian captivity:”Before captivity, I was angry at the Russians. Now its true hatred and a desire to have revenge for what they’ve done to our country and our people.”

Ms Ostapenko spoke out early this year about the horrors she was subjected to during her imprisonment. Her story along with the accounts given by other women taken as POWs, “revealed a systematic campaign of abuse. They described how they were beaten, denied medical care and forced to march naked in the snow and also to expose themselves to their captors. This is evidence of what is most certainly considered a war crime!

Reporters from The Telegraph went to Ukraine to speak to these women and to find out how they have learned to deal with the trauma they were subjected to. What they found is that many of them have “thrown themselves back into the fight against Russia and were more determined than ever to thwart Putin’s invasion.

“My suffering as a prisoner of war has become fuel” Ms Ostapenko said. ”We will not let them win.” These women are not allowing their trauma to beat them but instead they are taking these horrific experiences and turning them into “a source of strength.” Ostapenko fought the battle for Mariupol and the Azovstal Steel plant is where she was captured. She soon found herself in a cramped cell in the notorious Olenivka prison, where the Russian national anthem blared through the prison around the clock. This deprived her of sleep while she underwent grueling, long interrogations.

“For me it is important to continue my fight. I don’t want anyone else to have the experience as I did.” Since she has been released in a prisoner exchange, she has dedicated her work to serving her fellow soldiers as a physical rehabilitation officer helping wounded soldiers to return to the battlefield. She helps those who like her suffered in Russian captivity.

“Why am I working so hard and keep pushing and fighting? It is for them,” she says of her fellow soldiers. “ I want to be here, dressed in my uniform, to greet my comrades-in-arms in person when they are released.” Her mother urges Ostapenko to come home where it is more safe because Kramatorsk comes under frequent Russian attack from missiles and drones, but she refuses to leave!

“This is my way of fighting, Right now my position means I can’t get revenge directly. But I understand that the boys and girls coming to me, those who were in captivity like me, will do everything to take revenge.” But Ms Potapenko is not the only woman who had survived Russian captivity and used her experience into a “powerful motivation to help others.”

In the central city of Vinnytsia, in a military hospital are some of Ukraine’s most severely wounded soldiers who lie in beds clinging to life desperately. These men have lost limbs in combat or have suffered horrible head wounds which lead to severe mental health issues. Many of these soldiers are also scarred by the horrors they were subjected to in Russian captivity.

Valentyna Zubko is a 32 year old medic, who is working long shifts in the hospital’s intensive care units. She says:” The men who come to us ate skin and bones. We see some of the worst cases in the country. We work constantly but war is never without sacrifice.”

Ms Zubko’s dedication dedication is remarkable by any standard, but it is made even more so because she also endured torture at the hands of the Russians. That is why her commitment to these severely wounded soldiers is even more resounding! She spoke to the reporter duting a break she took outside the hospital and talked about her horrible 5 1/2 months in Russian captivity. She was moved to four different prisons but instead of making her bitter it has given her a level of empathy and understanding that is not possessed by many others.

Ms Zubko was captured at the Illitch Steel Plant during the siege of Mariupol in 2022. “ Our pain, our sadness is the war. It unites us. It is difficult to cope with the pressured environment and my own trauma, but I know it is my true purpose in my country’s fight.”

Ms Zubko is able to identify which soldiers were in Russian captivity immediately, because they often walk with their hands behind their backs – a habit developed during the long periods that they had their hands handcuffed behind their backs. They also have difficulty with speech because they were punished for doing do so.

“These habits have stayed with me as well, she says. She goes on to say that these soldiers are “often fearful of what might come next, or under the illusion that they are no longer wanted by their country due to their injuries.”

Ms Zubko continues:” In captivity they have constantly been told that no one needs them, everyday that they are nobody. When they have been their for years, this becomes their reality.” Like the soldiers she cares for, Ms Zubko was also told that she was worthless as she was tortured with electrocution, stress positions and beatings. “There were some interrogation where I thought I wouldn’t make it out alive. When I speak to these men I get flashbacks. They describe something from captivity and instantly I see the picture of my own similar experiences in front of me.”

Ms Ostapenko and Ms Zubko, continue to haunted by the trauma they experienced they realize it will most likely follow them for the rest of their lives! “I know that healing won’t take a year or two, it will stay with me until I die.” Although she maintained a steady voice, but something in the way she looked showed the terrible ordeal she had gone through.

Still plagued by nightmares from her tine as s POW, Ms Ostapenko hopes that one day she can return to Mariupol. “ Not to fight, but to plant flowers. I believe victory will be ours.”

“With no end to the war sight despite Washington’s haphazard pursuit of a quick ceasefire deal, the fight is far from over!”

These are the heroes of Ukraine that Senator Mark Kelly visited a couple of weeks ago. He visited hospitals where he spoke to wounded soldiers who told him that they were going back to fight for Ukraine even if they had to fight with their bare hands. For this Elon Musk called Senator Kelly a “traitor” because Kelly was not standing up for the US. If anything, it is someone like Senator Kelly, who is standing up for a democratic form of government whether it is in the US or Ukraine. While people like Trump and Musk know nothing about the sacrifices the people in Ukraine are making to keep their democracy. In fact, if anything, those two will be responsible for destroying the democratic form of government in the USA! They have already shown over and over that the Constitution that is the backbone of US democracy means nothing to them!

Addendum: Although these women will bear the mental and physical scars of the torture they went through at the Russian hands, they will not let it stand in the way of helping other soldiers. These are the heroes of Ukraine 🇺🇦, both men and women ! Putin may take Ukrainian territory and destroy Ukrainian cities. He can torture and kill Ukrainians both civilian and military, but what he will never kill is the spirit of the Ukrainian people!!!