The abduction of a 19-year-old son — and, a year later, his father — could sound like a thriller plot.

But for one Crimean Tatar family from Ukraine’s Kherson region, it’s real life under russian occupation.

1/9 Aishe is the mother of Appaz and former wife of Khalil Kurtamet.

A Crimean Tatar from Kherson region, she has spent years fighting for the release of her son and ex-husband after their abductions by russian forces.

2/9

Hi everyone! My name is Kyrylo, I'm 8, and I'm from Kherson.

I was killed in Vinnytsia, the city my family evacuated to after two months under occupation.

On 14 July, a russian missile hit an office building in the centre of Vinnytsia. I was in the car with my uncle; my grandma had gone to the bank. I was killed instantly by shrapnel, and the car exploded.

That missile killed 27 people, including me and two other children.

I grew up looking like my dad, but my personality was like my mum's. I was a quiet boy who loved Lego, football, chess, and art. I enjoyed reading, learning poems, and spending time with my family.

A week and a half before I was killed, we celebrated my birthday. My parents gave me my favourite Lego, a toy gun, and a radio-controlled car. Ten days later, I was gone.

Dozens of people, mostly strangers, came to my farewell. They placed my favourite bear, Potap, in my coffin.

After I died, my mum got divorced and moved abroad. She takes each day as it comes and goes to therapy. She still feels like I might walk into the room—but I never will.
⤵️ On July 14, 2022, russia struck Vinnytsia, killing 29 and wounding over 150.

Two missiles slammed into a cultural center hosting a charity concert, while another tore through a square near a medical center.

One russian strike killed 29 innocent people. If it had happened in any other country, the world would call it pure terror. No doubt about that. But when it happens in Ukraine — silence.
⤵️

“We dug up around 800 bodies,” says Ukrainian marine Serhii Hrytsiv, forced by russian occupiers to exhume civilians killed during Mariupol’s siege in spring 2022.

This thread shares his testimony after surviving captivity.

1/7 For a month, prisoners were taken from Olenivka colony at 4–5 a.m. and driven into the ruined city.

Split into groups of five, they were ordered to open mass graves and pull bodies from collapsed buildings and makeshift burial sites.

2/7

🧵: Is it in Ukraine’s interest to “pick up the phone when Israel calls”?

Yesterday Israel reportedly requested talks with President Zelenskyy.

The topic: Ukraine’s experience in intercepting Iranian drones.

But before answering, some context.
⤵️ May 2022: Israel blocked U.S. transfers of critical Spike anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, saying it didn’t want to “provoke russia” in Syria.
Oct 2022: Israel refused a phone call with Ukraine’s DM Reznikov — for the fifth time since the invasion — citing threats from Medvedev.
⤵️

Today is International Women’s Day.

Over 70,000 women serve in Ukraine’s military.

Thousands fight on the front line.

Medics. Snipers. Drone pilots. Infantry.

They are not just defending Ukraine.
They are defending freedom itself.

Thread 🧵 Yuliia “Taira” Paievska — a combat medic who saved hundreds of lives.

For years she evacuated wounded soldiers and civilians from the front lines.

During the siege of Mariupol, russia captured her.

After 3 months in captivity, she was finally freed.

Not long ago, Trump said Ukraine “has no cards” and Zelenskyy “has no trumps.”

Today, the U.S. is asking Ukraine to save their skies from Shahed drones.

Meet Ukraine’s trump cards — interceptor drones rewriting the rules of aerial warfare.
Fast, smart, deadly.
👇

🧵1/10 ▪️ Sting-II 🇺🇦

An interceptor from @wilendhornets. One of the most widely used and cost-effective Ukrainian drones for countering Shahed drones. It can reach speeds of 250+ km/h and is equipped with computer vision.

🧵2/10

Oleksii, a serviceman of Ukraine’s 13th National Guard Brigade “Khartiia,” joined the military on Feb 25, 2022 — one day after the invasion began.

He later spent nearly two years in russian captivity.

His words — what survival in russian captivity really looks like 👇

1/9 “A normal day at war is like a dangerous amusement ride — one where you can die only once.”

He was captured on June 8, 2024, in Kharkiv region, out of ammunition, with no way to resist.

What followed wasn’t detention — it was systematic dehumanization.

2/9

War breaks simple ideas of heroism.

Denys Storozhuk, a defender of Azovstal, refused to surrender when ordered — he chose to survive alone, in occupied Mariupol.

This is a story that shocks and teaches what survival really means.

🧵1/6⬇️ He faked his own death, leaving a farewell note and escaping through the sewers.
Everyone had to believe he was gone.
It was his only chance to disappear.

🧵2/6

How can anyone believe that russia — the country responsible for these atrocities — actually wants peace?
A thread on Ukrainian cities russia has destroyed.

▪️Mariupol — ~430,000 in 2022. Tens of thousands killed or displaced. City mostly reduced to rubble.

🧵 1/14 ▪️Chasiv Yar — ~12,000 in 2022. Most civilians evacuated. Heavily damaged by constant shelling.

🧵 2/14

“In captivity, we are dust that gets crushed.
You’re beaten, strangled, suffocated with gas, drowned in a bathtub.”

— Mariupol native Yaroslav Rumiantsev recalls 39 months of russian captivity.

🧵 This thread is Yaroslav’s memories and testimony.

1/10 Yaroslav Rumiantsev is a serviceman of Ukraine’s 23rd Marine Detachment.
He lived in Mariupol all his life.

Joined the Marines in 2016. Served in Mariupol, Berdiansk, Shyrokyne.

On May 16, 2022, he left Azovstal and was captured.

2/10

Valeriy Torkotyuk from Bar, Vinnytsia region, spent 2 years 9 months in russian captivity. He returned home seriously ill: tuberculosis, hernia, and PTSD.

Here are his memories and plans for the future.

1/10 Valeriy began his service in 2017. He was captured on September 4, 2022.

His first interrogations were the harshest:
"The harshest interrogations were in Kherson, in the SIZO. They tried to get information using electric shocks and sticks"

2/10

Today at the European Parliament, people couldn’t hold back tears as 11-year-old Roman Oleksiv described surviving russia’s July 14, 2022 strike on Vinnytsia.

russia destroys children.
Ukrainian kids are forced to inspire an indifferent world instead of simply living. That day, Roman was in Vinnytsia with his mother, waiting for a doctor’s appointment while visiting his grandmother, when russian missiles hit the city.

His 29-year-old mother was killed instantly—along with 25 others that day. Roman’s survival was nothing short of a miracle.

"There were so many bodies on the road that we had to cover the children’s eyes." — 37-year-old Olena, lucky to escape the hell of Mariupol.

This thread is Olena’s testimony about the horrific first weeks of the full-scale invasion in Mariupol.

1/13 On February 24th at 4:30 a.m., we woke up to explosions.

Our houses still had electricity, water, gas, and heating. The mayor said everything was under control. So we tried not to panic. We bought bread and milk and returned home

2/13

Marine infantrywoman Inha Chekinda was captured in Mariupol and spent nearly six months in captivity.

This thread shares her story — her testimony about the fear, pain, and brutal abuse she and her sister-in-arms endured.

1/9 Inha was held in a cell with a young sister-in-arms across from the interrogation room.

She recalls seeing her captor for the first time:
"A living body, but no life in his eyes. Call sign — Death. Hands without fingers, just solid bone. I will never forget him."

2/9

This 🧵 tells the story of artist Daria Zymenko, who, in February–March 2022, survived the occupation in the Kyiv region with her family and endured sexual violence at the hands of russian barbarians.

Here are her words, her photos, and her artwork.

🧵1/9 “This small window served us as a 'gap to the world'. In the first days of the invasion, we watched the movement of russian vehicles from here and saw the russian military surrounding the village.”

🧵2/9

Unlike russia, which bombs cities, Ukraine hits the economic backbone of the war.

This 🧵: A Week of Strikes — a timeline of Ukraine dismantling the terrorists’ war chest (Nov 8–16).

Ukraine is doing everything it can, while the world keeps waiting.

🧵1/11 November 8:
- Volgograd region: Strike on Balakovo substation and TPP-1. Blackout for 20,000 homes and chemical plants.
- Voronezh: Damage to TPP-1.
- Taganrog: Strike on substation and fuel depots. Fuel shortage for the Black Sea Fleet.

🧵2/11

Danylo Murashkin, an Azov fighter, spent over 3 years in russian captivity.

At 19, from the first day of the open invasion, he defended Mariupol. He was captured on May 16, 2022, from the Azovstal plant.

This thread tells the story of his captivity and survival.

🧵1/10 About the Olenivka massacre:
“I had a feeling something was going to happen… I witnessed the attack. I heard explosions, saw flames. When I went outside, I heard the screams of our guys. And I realized something terrible had happened,” he recalls.

🧵2/10

“They pulled skin off my back alive — I have a scar the whole length of my spine.”

Ukrainian border guard Yevhenii Sholudko, recently freed from russian captivity, shares the horrors he endured.

🧵1/4 Prison conditions were inhumane:
“Naked, no windows, no toilet, just rubber walls. You pee in a corner. They watched you.”

“I have a scar the whole length of my back. They had this device… when the iron rod rises, it tears the skin off alive.”

🧵2/5

Fear, endless pain, loneliness — and an incredible will to survive.
All captured in the drawings of Ukrainian children in this thread.

The world let them suffer. It’s horrifying.

🧵1/10 Tetyana, 11 years old, Kryvyi Rih.

🧵2/10

Ukrainian Female POWs: Accounts of Abuse.

Several Ukrainian women captured by russian forces have shared harrowing accounts of systematic abuse — including physical torture, sexual violence, and public humiliation.
👇
🧵1/13 Lyudmila Huseynova, 61, was detained by russia in 2019, surviving captivity for three years and 13 days.

“Any woman in ‘Izolyatsiya’ wasn’t just tortured — she was raped.”

🧵2/13

Meet one of Ukraine’s heroes!

Three grenades hit his tank, and he was standing on the armor, shooting at the enemy.

For this battle, Ihor Levchenko was awarded the “Golden Star.”

His story? Pure courage.
👇
🧵1/7 Ihor’s from Poltava.
Before the war, he’d never even touched a tank. In March 2022, he shows up at the enlistment office and has to learn it all from scratch.

🧵2/7