A Ukrainian police officer broke down when she stepped onto her country's soil after being freed from Russia's captivity. Twenty-four-year-old Mariana Checheliuk was released on Friday during a prisoner of war (POW) exchange between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Seventy four other POWs were released along with her. Ms Checheliuk, an investigator for the National Police of Ukraine, had been in captivity for more than two years, the outlet further said. The group was sent to the northern Sumy region in a bus.
The police officer was seen in tears after being presented with a bouquet of flowers wrapped in the Ukrainian flag and hugged by the people. The photos of her arrival were posted on Instagram by Julia Pavlyuk, the head of the Central Regional Centre of the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Ms Checheliuk's family said she suffered unspeakable hardships and her health condition worsened in captivity.
"Despite treatment in the pre-trial detention centre, including antibiotic injections, her health did not improve," her mother, Nataliia , told the ZMINA news outlet in January, citing letters her daughter was allowed to send to the family while in Russian detention.
"She lost a significant amount of weight, her immune system weakened, her hair began to fall out, and she suffered from amenorrhea," Nataliia said.
The woman later told Ukrainska Pravda that her daughter was "starved, beaten, and subjected to other forms of abuse".
New York Post said that Ms Checheliuk and her sister were both taken captive while hiding from Russian bombardments at the Azovstal steelworks mill in April 2022. While the 24-year-old was held at POW camps, her sister was rescued.
The outlet further said that Moscow tried to get Ms Checheliuk to defect, but the police officer rejected all their offers and continued to suffer in the POW camps.
