The Captivity

For 86 days, the Ukrainian military held defenses in the surrounded Mariupol and on the territory of the Azovstal plant. In order to preserve the lives of the soldiers and save the wounded, the defenders—by order of the higher military command—stopped standing on the defensive, left the territory of the plant and were to surrender to the so-called honorable captivity in the presence of international organizations and observers, with the condition of exchange within 3-4 months. Valeriya Nava Subotina was part of the press service of the Azov regiment. She was enforced to stay in captivity—first in Olenivka, then in Taganrog prison—for over 11 months. In this book, Valeriya described all the circles of hell that she went through for almost a year. Constant surveillance, control, humiliation, inhumane conditions of detention, critical shortage of food and water, attempts of the enemy to break her physically and morally, subjugate her, intimidate her, and push her to treason—Valeriya had to experience all these. Interrogations and torture were exhausting. The impossibility of getting in touch with friends and relatives, misinformation and enemy propaganda would take away the last hope for exchange and freedom. Nevertheless, captivity did not break the intrepid woman; now she is a witness to the crimes of the Russian Federation.