Thread by @VolodyaTretyak

Heartbreaking story: Marine officer Andriy Turas returned home after 2.5 years in captivity, reuniting with his wife Olena, a combat medic. She was released earlier, learning she was pregnant. Andriy returned to find out he has son, now almost two years old.

1/ "In February, rumors spread that a war was coming. We were on high alert and slept in our clothes a few days before it began. We knew Mariupol would take the biggest hit, but we couldn’t grasp the full scale of it."

2/ "During the invasion, we took up defense at the Azov Mash plant, hid equipment, and set up observation points. The city was in chaos. There was no food. We stayed in a bunker at the plant, eventually drinking technical water because there was no other option."

3/ "We didn’t have many options on what to do. Our plan was to leave all military documents at the plant, dress as civilians, and try to blend in to exit combat."

4/ "We found a house and set up a lookout there. Though the roof was damaged, we settled. An old man came by, said he supported Ukraine, and offered help. He fed us and led us to another house with better access to the road toward Zaporizhzhia."

5/ "We tried offering him money, but he wouldn’t take it. He guided us to the house, where we planned to stay for a few days before setting out toward Zaporizhzhia at night. The day before we were supposed to leave, we heard an RPG strike the roof...

6/ ...Then came automatic gunfire, shattering all the windows. It went on for 10-15 minutes. They shouted at us to come out with hands up or they’d throw grenades."

7/ ....We exited and saw around a platoon of DNR soldiers. They didn’t check the house, just threw grenades inside in case anyone stayed behind."

8/ Olena:
"Then they separated us. Andriy and the others were taken elsewhere, and I was sent to join other female captives in a basement."

9/ "The last time I saw Andriy was when we arrived in Olenivka. I saw him exit the bus with the men and watched them beat him."

10/ "They took the women separately. We underwent a humiliating search, stripped and checked to make sure we weren’t hiding anything."

11/ "Andriy:
After Olenivka, I was transferred to Taganrog, then to Bryansk, then to Vladimir Oblast, then to the Republic of Mordovia, where I spent a year and two months until the exchange."

12/ Olena:
"In Olenivka, there were cells for two people, but we had 17 people in each. Everyone had their spot; mine was under the bed. We slept in shifts. They never told us the time or date. The conditions were horrific...

13/ ...The place was cracked and falling apart, with rats and cockroaches. They didn’t give us clean clothes or bedding. It was a small comfort to see familiar faces—our people. Once, I saw our guys being led down the corridor and felt relieved to know they were alive."

14/ "Then they took us to the Taganrog prison. They insulted the women, saying our men would never leave alive. We faced constant checks and surveillance. In the evenings, we had to learn and recite the Russian anthem...

15/ ...If someone refused to sing, they faced punishment. They aimed to break us, to destroy our identity, to crush our spirits. But we held on, partly because we knew it was even worse for the men. We could hear their screams at night."

16/ Andriy:
"They isolated us from everything a normal person has. Soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, underwear that's all we had. I managed to endure for two and a half years, preparing myself mentally to last even longer if needed...

17/ ...For a normal person, it was unbearable. I don’t know if they did it to break us or to show dominance. I concluded that maybe they live this way too, as it seemed like a twisted form of upbringing or maybe just the way they’re trained...

18/ ...I’d always tell the guys, 'They have to live with themselves after this, but we will hold on.' They’d torment us and then go home to their families. I don’t understand how they can raise their children like that."

19/ "There were better times when we were allowed to read. We didn’t have foreign books, only Russian literature like Pushkin, Lermontov, and Akhmatova's poems."

20/ "Before captivity, I weighed 114 kilograms, a good-sized guy. After, I weighed 65 kilograms. I’ve been recovering slowly. They fed us, but we still lost weight. Meals were bland: tea, bread, and porridge in the morning, soup at lunch, and potatoes or cabbage for dinner."

21/ Olena:
"In captivity, they told us we were war criminals and that even in Ukraine we’d end up in prison after an exchange. No one believed them; we knew it was propaganda."

22/ "We tried not to think about an exchange, to avoid raising false hope."

23/ Andriy:
"As an officer, I knew others were looking to me for support, though it wasn’t easy...

24/ ...Some had lost all their loved ones at the start of the war. You look at them, and you know that saying, 'Stay strong, it’ll be okay' doesn’t help. You see it in their eyes that things won’t be okay."

25/ "For some, it was their kids, for others, their parents, and for the young, just the desire to live. As experience shows, every person wants to survive."

26/ "I was haunted by the thought that I hadn’t said goodbye to my parents. It kept me going, the thought that I hadn’t said my farewell. My wife is my friend and a crucial person in my life. I love her dearly and longed to return to her."

27/ Olena:
"When we were taken to Sevastopol, to a military academy, conditions improved. There were rumors that from this place, people were usually exchanged, but I tried not to hope too much."

28/ "One night, they woke us, transported us in closed vehicles with blindfolded eyes and bound hands. Some of our wounded were with us, and Russian soldiers untied my hands so I could help them."

29/ "I caught glimpses of familiar landmarks, realizing we were on Ukrainian land, Kherson region. They lined us up at the exchange point, and someone wearing a Ukrainian flag patch on their armor approached us."

30/ "My knees shook; I felt like I might faint—freedom at last."

31/ Andriy:
"In August [likely August 2022], the investigator told us our women had been exchanged. We believed, though we knew they often lied. Still, we hoped for a bit of humanity."

32/ Olena:
"I began to suspect I was pregnant in Sevastopol. I thought it might be due to stress. After the exchange, I saw a doctor, who confirmed I was already 12 weeks along during the full-scale invasion."

33/ "I was shocked and worried for the baby, having endured poor nutrition and taken medication unsafe for pregnancy. I feared for the child’s well-being."

34/ "Throughout the pregnancy, I held out hope Andriy would return before the birth. I sent him letters, hoping they’d reach him and keep him going."

35/ Andriy:
"I didn’t know my wife had been pregnant while in captivity. I’d dreamed of having a son. I told the guys in captivity how much I wanted a child, and soon our son will be two...

36/ ...I didn’t receive any letters. I could only write them at the last place I was held, and only managed to write five. But no one got them."

37/ Olena:
"It was sad that Andriy wasn’t there when our son was born. I wanted him to see our child. Family supported me. I filmed and photographed our son’s growth for Andriy to see one day."

38/ "Every exchange, every day, I hoped he’d be freed. I’d check lists in hopes of finding his name."

39/ Andriy:
"Captivity is a different life—no, it’s survival. You must act to stay alive. It’s a place where you can’t express your thoughts or beliefs."

40/ "When they told us we were being exchanged, I thought it was another transfer. I mentally prepared myself for the worst. I only learned in the plane that I’d been held in Mordovia. I hadn’t known our exact location."

41/ "When I saw buses upon landing, I felt hope. Guards dressed better and behaved better. There was a flicker of hope, but I held back from fully believing it."

42/ "A guard said, 'You’re being exchanged.' I replied, 'This is my seventh exchange attempt.' He joked, 'Want an eighth?' I said no. I wondered why I’d even spoken. Better to stay silent."

43/ "Two and a half years is a long time. If it had been a year or six months, it might have felt like a few days. But this long impacted my mind. I forgot how to use a phone, even buying flowers made me anxious."

44/ "When I arrived, I said, 'Finally, I’m home.' And I truly felt home. My mother and wife said they believed every day I’d return."

45/ Olena:
"The first day, he held Leon [son], as if he knew exactly what to do. Leon took to him immediately, as if those two and a half years apart had never happened."

46/ Andriy:
"It’s such a joy to be on your land. Walking in the fresh air, feeling the breeze—these are things we take for granted."

Olena continues:
"And we should do what we plan and never put things off. Life in captivity wasn’t life; it was a pause, a mere existence."

47/ source