World Courant
BBC
After Marina fled her dwelling in Vuhledar, she was shocked to see a video of a Russian soldier looking her belongings in her dwelling
Marina Perederii’s dwelling within the small mining city of Vuhledar in japanese Ukraine was her pleasure and pleasure.
17 Sadovaya Avenue was little greater than a shell when she and her husband purchased it.
They lovingly renovated the home and painted cherry blossoms and doves – symbols of affection and well-being – of their bed room. They constructed a swimming pool within the backyard and a sauna within the basement.
Marina Perederii
Marina’s youngsters liked the pool, one of many final issues they added to the home
“All the things was deliberate with a lot ardour,” she instructed BBC World Service. However the peace wouldn’t final.
In February 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Marina’s husband began combating whereas she took their kids and fled. Earlier than she fled, she captured what she thought might be her final glimpse of their dwelling.
“My expensive dwelling, I do not know whether or not you’ll maintain out or not. I do not know if we’ll ever return right here… or if we’ll survive in any respect,” she mentioned in a video.
Marina Perederii
Marina’s favourite room was the bed room, with the portray of pigeons and cherry blossoms
The subsequent time she noticed her dwelling was a yr later, in February 2023, by the eyes of a Russian soldier, in bodycam footage posted to social media.
A Marine named Fima was in her lounge, trying by pictures of Marina and her household. “Stunning,” he mentioned, a photograph.
It was a chilling picture that made her offended. “I want I had introduced the albums,” says Marina.
Ukraine defended Vuhledar for 2 and a half years earlier than Russia took management of town in early October.
In the course of the lengthy battle, in late January 2023, Fima had led a gaggle of troopers to the outskirts and have become concerned in heavy combating on Sadovaya Avenue. He and a few others entered Marina’s home.
Bodycam of Russian troopers
Video from Fima’s bodycam confirmed him trying by Marina’s household pictures
As his bodycam footage at dwelling went viral, Fima was hailed as a hero. Official paperwork present that he was recalled from the entrance in February 2023 as a consequence of a leg wound.
However what the footage didn’t present was that the Russians have been holding a Ukrainian soldier captive in Marina’s basement, who was ravenous and in pressing want of medical care. His title was Oleksii.
Earlier than the battle, Oleksii labored as an IT specialist. When Russia invaded his nation, he volunteered to struggle and later turned a drone operator in Vuhledar. His love for dancing earned him the nickname Dancer.
When the Russians broke by the Ukrainian traces in late January 2023, Oleksii and his comrades tried to withdraw, however a few of them, together with Oleksii, have been shot.
Wounded, they have been taken from home to accommodate by Russian troopers, with Oleksii ultimately ending up within the basement of Marina’s home.
Oleksii nonetheless has a bullet in his again; docs have instructed him it’s too harmful to take away it
He was held captive for nearly a month. Russian footage uploaded on-line exhibits him wrapped in certainly one of Marina’s carpets.
When the Russian troopers lastly withdrew, they left Oleksii behind. In whole, he spent 46 days in Marina’s home, and for many of that point he had little meals or water.
Injured, ravenous and dehydrated, he couldn’t depart the constructing.
“I used to be capable of finding some crumbs on the ground,” he instructed the BBC World Service from Kiev.
“There was a chunk of cracker {that a} mouse stole from me at evening. I hid it, after which the mouse in all probability stole it as a result of I could not discover it.
However starvation was nothing in comparison with thirst. Someday, after the Russians left, Oleksii was nearly killed by the determined want for water.
He tore panels out of the sauna within the hope that there can be water within the pipes. He managed to crack one open and drank among the liquid inside, nevertheless it was antifreeze. These few sips induced inner burns and have been nearly deadly.
When Ukrainian forces retook elements of Vuhledar and reached Sadovaya Avenue in March that yr, one other video from Marina’s home went viral. It exhibits ex-New Zealand soldier Kane Te Tai coming into Quantity 17 and discovering Oleksii.
jeka___af/TikTok
Within the video of Oleksii’s rescue, he’s seen sucking on a lollipop given to him by Ukrainian troops
“New Zealand, New Zealand, it is me!” Oleksii shouts at his colleague, who had traveled to struggle for Ukraine. Te Tai died in battle simply two weeks later.
Oleksii was carried out of the home and brought to security.
If it had lasted just some extra days, Oleksii says he would not have made it.
A number of different Ukrainian and Russian troopers are recognized to have died in and round Sadovaya Avenue throughout the Battle of Vuhledar.
“Thank God Oleksii survived. However the truth that folks died in my home shocked me,” she says. “There’s solely loss of life in it.”
The BBC World Service requested the Russian Protection Ministry about Oleksii’s therapy, however obtained no response.
Six months after Oleksii’s rescue, his Russian captor was praised at dwelling. He was now not referred to solely by his name signal, Fima, however by his first title, Andrei. State tv footage exhibits him reenacting the assault in Vuhledar and sharing his experiences with main faculty kids, the place academics current him as a hero.
The BBC in contrast these pictures with pictures of Andrei from a whole lot of social media profiles and located a match: the identical hairline, the identical birthmark on the neck and clear proof of a leg damage.
His full title is Andrei Efimkin, a 28-year-old born within the Far East of Russia.
We contacted him and requested concerning the video of Sadovaya Avenue, particularly during which he appeared by the pictures of Marina’s household. He instructed us he was enjoying a “psychological trick” on himself due to the incoming gunfire.
“I picked up the album and began trying on the photos to distract myself,” he mentioned.
“You already know, I really felt so cold-blooded. To be sincere, these ideas went by my head for a second – about who lived right here.”
155 Marine Brigade Telegram Channel
Fima was the nickname of Andrei Efimkin, a 28-year-old born within the Far East of Russia
However when requested instantly about Marina, Efimkin mentioned he didn’t wish to reply any extra questions and ended the dialog.
Marina is now in Germany. As time passes, she tries to construct a brand new life, study a brand new language and discover some work right here and there – however she nonetheless grieves for her misplaced dwelling in Vuhledar.
“It is so troublesome. I nonetheless see my home in my desires, it is at all times in my head. I nonetheless hope that Ukraine wins and all the pieces can be superb, we’ll come again,” she says.
“My nation is there, the sky is mine.”
However again on Sadovaya Avenue, nearly nothing is left of her beloved home, which is as soon as once more nothing greater than a shell.
It may be acknowledged from aerial drone footage by a bruise the place her swimming pool was, standing out towards a background of grey rubble.
Donbass opeartivniy/Telegram
The blue of Marina’s pool stands out in drone footage taken from above her dwelling
