Held Ukrainian medic who has survived torture in Kremlin Captivity calls for justice

Yuliia Paievska, famous in war-torn Ukraine for the founding of a volunteer ambulance corps called ‘Taira’s Angels’, filmed in bodycam images of Warzone before they were trapped

A hero Ukrainian medic who endured torture during the imprisonment of Kremlin has called on Russia to pay.

Yuliia Paievska famous in the country torn by war for the founding of a volunteer ambulance corps called “Taira’s Angels” fiddling with the moving bodycam images before he was seized. The 56-year-old was held for three months after he was taken by pro-Russian troops in besieged Port City Mariupol after the full invasion in 2022. Now, instead of recovering bodies, she helps the spirits to heal-as a Ukrainian military officer who supports the mental health of troops. In an emotional interview with The Mirror, Yuliia – also known as Taira – remembered the horrors she has conquered.

“I think I believe in justice … Justice will prevail,” she said during a visit to London. “What I see now, it is a huge price. And that price has to be reimbursed. We pay a huge price. We cannot fully pay those who have already deceased. But Russia must pay completely. I think you have after the Second World War [a] Similar situation.

“I know London has been destroyed, I know how many people were killed in the UK. I know how many soldiers died. And I know the price that the United Kingdom has paid … and the situation [in Ukraine] is very similar … instead of fascist Germany, now it’s Russia. “She added:“ I know we can’t give up … she [Russians] Will go to the end and we can’t stop. The sooner they are stopped, the less price we will pay. “

The mother of one was taken prisoner on March 16, 2022, the month after the armed forces of Vladimir Putin had set up their full attack. The same day she was taken, a Russian air raid on a theater in Mariupol killed hundreds of people. As she held, she tortured torture. “It’s my new weapon,” said Yullia – Free in June 2022 -. “Tell the truth about what happened there. What is … Russian imprisonment.” She explained: ‘You have no freedom. Not much. Every step [you] are under control. If something goes wrong for them [her captors]she [are] Immediately you hit, torture you. “

“Psychological pressure and physical torture, real physical torture, that’s what I actually [experienced]”She said.” It is not only electric shock. It is a special equipped facility … they are not just random objects there. It is well selected, well -prepared, well -adapted equipment for torture. “

Bodycam images Yuliia took prior to her conquest, remarkably smuggled in a tampon, showed her heroism – the injured help, whether they are Ukrainian or Russian. In one clip she ordered colleagues to use a blanket to pack an injured Russian soldier. Some of the warzone scenes appeared in the heart of Invictus, a Netflix documentary after the road to the sporting event founded by Prince Harry for injured service members. Yullia has no praise for the Royal, who served in Afghanistan when he was in the British army. “He’s fantastic,” she said. “I relate to Him … not only as part of the Royal family but like my pear, like my brother. ‘

Yuliia-Die hip and back injuries took part in Invictus games in 2022, but was taken prisoner so that her then teenage daughter, Anna-Sofia, took archery in her place. Yuliia, a graphic designer by profession, initially helped as a voluntary medicine during the Pro-EU Maidan uprising in Ukraine in 2013. She founded a volunteer ambulance corp after the war in 2014 was pronounced in 2014. And Yuliia served in the army from 2018 to 2020, in a hospital.

The angels of Taira are credited for saving many lives. “I actually got a group of like -minded friends and we decided to do volunteer work to help. It is 100% volunteer initiative. No weapons, no weapons,” she explained. Asked if she is happy to be an angel, she said: ‘I still want to smoke, I still want to eat. I am not [an] angel.”

We spoke with Yuliia at the opening of the indomitable Ukraine exhibition, organized by the National Museum of History of Ukraine in World War II and the Non-profit Bogdan Gubsky Foundation, where they also gave a speech. The free exhibition in the Vinyl Factory in Soho in London, with recovered war art facts, was opened on Wednesday and runs until September 29.

At the end of last year, Yuliia Die drove a diploma in psychology again and served as an officer in the Khartia Brigade who offers mental health care. “I work in three categories. Those in the front line, those who are in the front line and those who return from captivity,” she explained.

‘It’s very good work, it’s like [being] A jeweler … it is only one person to person therapy. But I am perhaps the only psychologist in the world who has gone through 12 years of war, imprisonment, torture. So nobody can say [to] I, ‘hey, you, girl, who are you? You have not seen anything in this life. “But I saw everything. “