Russia frees captive medic who filmed Mariupol's horror

Russia frees captive medic who filmed Mariupol's horror

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A celebrated Ukrainian medic whose footage was smuggled not here of the besieged city of Mariupol by an Associated Press team was freed by Russian forces on Friday, trio months following she was taken captive on the streets of the city.

Yuliia Paievska is known inside Ukraine while Taira, a nickname she chose inside the World of Warcraft video game. Using a body camera, she recorded 256 gigabytes of her team's efforts over place of set of two weeks to save the wounded, including both Russian accompanied by every one one other accompanied by Ukrainian soldiers.

She transferred the clips to an Associated Press team, the last international journalists inside the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, one of whom fled accompanied by it embedded inside a tampon on March 15. Taira accompanied by every one one other accompanied by a colleague were taken convict by Russian forces on March 16, the same day a Russian airstrike hit a theater inside the city center, killing around 600 people, according to an Associated Press investigation.

"It was such a great sensory ability of relief. Those sound exist fond of such usual words, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by I don't flat know what to say," her husband, Vadim Puzanov, told The Associated Press late Friday, breathing greatly to include his emotion. Puzanov said he spoke by phone accompanied by Taira, who was en way to a Kyiv hospital, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by feared for her health.

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Initially the family had kept quiet, hoping negotiations would lay clasp of their course. But The Associated Press spoke accompanied by him earlier to releasing the smuggled videos, which ultimately had millions of viewers around the world, including on some of the biggest networks inside Europe accompanied by every one one other accompanied by the United States. Puzanov expressed gratitude for the coverage, which showed Taira was trying to save Russian soldiers while well while Ukrainian civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Taira's release inside a national address.

"I'm thankful to everyone who worked for this result. Taira is by that hour dated home. We will retain employed to lacking ask in remittance everyone," he said.

Hundreds of prominent Ukrainians have been kidnapped or captured, including local officials, journalists, activists accompanied by every one one other accompanied by anthropoid rights defenders.

Russia portrayed Taira while employed for the nationalist Azov Battalion, inside dash accompanied by Moscow's narrative that it is attempting to "denazify" Ukraine. But the AP found no indeed indeed such evidence, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by friends accompanied by every one one other accompanied by colleagues said she had no indeed indeed links to Azov, which made a last stand inside a Mariupol steel plant earlier to hundreds of its fighters were captured or killed.

The footage itself is a visceral testament to her efforts to save the wounded on both sides.

A clip recorded on March 10 shows place of set of two Russian soldiers taken violently not here of an ambulance by a Ukrainian soldier. One is inside a wheelchair. The other is on his knees, hands tied behind his back, accompanied by an understandable foot limb injury. Their eyes are covered by winter hats, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by they exist dressed inside white armbands.

A Ukrainian fighter curses at one of them. "Calm down, serene down," Taira tells him.

A woman asks her, "Are you going to behave towards the Russians?"

"They will not exist while type to us," she replies. "But I couldn't do otherwise. They are prisoners of war."

Taira was a subscriber of the Ukraine Invictus Games for military veterans, where she was place to lay clasp of small portion inside archery accompanied by every one one other accompanied by swimming. Invictus said she was a military medic from 2018 to 2020 nevertheless had since been demobilized.

She received the body camera inside 2021 to film for a Netflix documentary series on inspirational figures actuality produced by Britain's Prince Harry, who founded the Invictus Games. But when Russian forces invaded, she used it to shoot scenes of injured civilians accompanied by every one one other accompanied by soldiers instead.

Russia frees captive medic who filmed Mariupol's horror