‘Russians invaded my home and held a Ukrainian soldier captive there’

Marina Perederii’s residence within the small mining metropolis of Vuhledar in japanese Ukraine was her satisfaction and pleasure.

17 Sadovaya Road was little greater than a shell when she and her husband purchased it.

They lovingly renovated the home, portray cherry blossom 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.

“Everything was planned with such passion,” she tells the BBC World Service. However the peace wasn’t to final.

In February 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Marina’s husband went to battle whereas she took their youngsters and ran. Earlier than fleeing, she recorded what she thought could possibly be her final glimpse of their residence.

“My dear house, I don’t know if you will stand or not. I don’t know if we’ll ever return here… or if we’ll even survive at all,” she stated in a video.

The following time she noticed her residence was a 12 months later in February 2023, by the eyes of a Russian soldier, in bodycam footage posted on social media.

A marine going by the title Fima was in her front room, flicking by pictures of Marina and her household. “Beautiful,” he stated, one picture.

It was a chilling picture that made her offended. “I wish I had taken the albums with me,” Marina says.

Ukraine spent two and a half years defending Vuhledar earlier than Russia took management of town firstly of October.

Throughout the lengthy battle, in late January 2023, Fima had led a gaggle of troopers to the suburbs and obtained caught in heavy combating on Sadovaya Road. He and a few others entered Marina’s residence.

As his bodycam footage went viral again residence, Fima was hailed as a hero. Official paperwork present that he was recalled from the entrance in February 2023 due to a leg wound.

However what the footage didn’t present was that the Russians have been preserving a Ukrainian soldier captive in Marina’s basement, who was ravenous and in determined want of medical care. His title was Oleksii.

Earlier than the conflict, Oleksii labored as an IT specialist. When Russia invaded his nation, he volunteered to battle and later turned a drone operator in Vuhledar. His love of dancing earned him the nickname Dancer.

When the Russians broke by Ukrainian traces in late January 2023, Oleksii and his comrades tried to retreat, however a few of them, together with Oleksii have been shot.

Wounded, they have been taken from home to deal with by Russian troopers, with Oleksii finally ending up within the basement of Marina’s residence.

He was held captive for nearly a month – Russian footage uploaded on-line exhibits him wrapped in one in every of Marina’s carpets.

When the Russian troopers finally retreated, they left Oleksii behind. In all he spent 46 days in Marina’s home and for a lot of that point he had barely any meals or water.

Injured, ravenous and dehydrated, he was unable to go away the constructing.

“I was able to find some crumbs on the floor,” he tells the BBC World Service from Kyiv.

“There was a piece of cracker, which a mouse stole from me at night. I hid it, and then the mouse probably stole it because I couldn’t find it.”

However starvation was nothing in comparison with thirst. Sooner or later, after the Russians had left, the determined want for water virtually killed Oleksii.

He tore panels from the sauna within the hope that there is perhaps water contained in the pipes. He managed to interrupt one open and drank a number of the liquid inside, however it was antifreeze. These few sips triggered inside burns and have been almost deadly.

Then, in March that 12 months, when Ukrainian forces retook elements of Vuhledar and reached Sadovaya Road, one other video from Marina’s residence went viral. It exhibits ex-New Zealand soldier Kane Te Tai coming into quantity 17 and discovering Oleksii.

“New Zealand, New Zealand, it’s me!” Oleksii shouts at his colleague, who had travelled to battle for Ukraine. Te Tai died in battle simply two weeks later.

Oleksii was carried out of the home and to security.

Had he been left only a few extra days, Oleksii says he wouldn’t have made it.

A number of different Ukrainian and Russian troopers are identified to have died in and round Sadovaya Road throughout the battle for Vuhledar.

“Thank God Oleksii survived. But the fact that people died in my house, it shocked me,” she says. “There is only death in there.”

The BBC World Service requested the Russian Ministry of Defence about Oleksii’s remedy however acquired no response.

Half a 12 months after Oleksii’s rescue, his Russian captor was being lauded at residence. He was now not simply referred to by his name signal, Fima, however by his first title, Andrei. State TV footage exhibits him re-enacting the Vuhledar assault and sharing his experiences with main college youngsters, the place lecturers current him as a hero.

The BBC in contrast this footage with images of Andrei from a whole bunch of social media profiles and located a match – the identical hairline, the identical mole on the neck, and clear proof of a leg harm.

His full title is Andrei Efimkin – a 28-year-old born in Russia’s Far East.

We contacted him and requested concerning the video from Sadovaya Road, significantly the place he flicked by the pictures of Marina’s household. He instructed us he was taking part in a “psychological trick” on himself because of the incoming gunfire.

“I grabbed the album and started looking at the photos to distract myself,” he stated.

“You know, actually, I felt so cold-blooded. For a second, to be honest, these thoughts ran through my mind – about who lived here.”

However when requested about Marina immediately, Efimkin stated he didn’t wish to reply any extra questions and ended the decision.

Marina is now in Germany. As time passes, she is making an attempt to construct a brand new life, study a brand new language and discover bits of labor right here and there – however she nonetheless grieves her misplaced residence in Vuhledar.

“It’s so hard. I can still see my house in my dreams, it’s always in my head. I still hope that Ukraine will win and everything will be fine, we will come back,” she says.

“My land is there, the air is mine.”

However again on Sadovaya Road there may be virtually nothing left of her beloved home, which as soon as once more is not more than a shell.

It may be recognised in drone footage shot from the air by a blue spot, the place her swimming pool was once, standing out in opposition to a backdrop of gray rubble.