A few weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, military nurse Viktoria Obidinia was sent to the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol with the mission of helping wounded soldiers.
The steelworks became the last bastion of resistance in the port city, which was razed piece by piece by Russian aerial bombs.
The residents who remained sought shelter in tunnels under the work, and for two months Viktoria Obidinia and her four-year-old daughter Alisa lived in a bunker under Azovstal.
Torture at police station
In mid-May, the Ukrainian forces were forced to surrender and leave the steel plant.
Russian soldiers sorted out those who participated in the Ukrainian resistance and Viktoria Obidinia soon understood that she would become a prisoner of war.
When she heard that the daughter was to be sent to a Russian orphanage, she managed to sneak the girl onto a convoy of civilians arranged by the Red Cross out of the city.
She herself was taken to a police station where she was interrogated and subjected to torture.
- They hit me on the head, strangled me, hit me on the ribs and on the legs.
Everywhere except in the face, so that it wouldn't show.
She was also forced to appear in an interview for a Russian propaganda channel and say that she was treated well.
Was taken to infamous prison
She was shuttled around between various Russian penal colonies before ending up at the infamous prison in Oljonivka.
There she and her fellow female prisoners were forced to listen as the men from Azovstal were tortured.
- They were men with whom I had served and who had protected me.
I couldn't do anything, just listen, says Viktoria Obidinia.
On July 29, over 50 prisoners of war from Azovstal were killed in a large explosion at the prison in Oljonivka.
According to Russia, Ukraine was behind the attack, but the UN suspects that Russia carried out the explosion with the aim of erasing the traces of war crimes.
Viktoria Obidinia also believes that the incident was planned.
- They closed the food hatches and told us to be quiet.
We thought they were going to shoot us, she says.
After 156 days in captivity, Viktoria Obidinia was released in a prisoner exchange with 108 women from Azovstal in exchange for imprisoned Russian soldiers.
She learned that her daughter, who had just turned five, was safe in Poland.
Today, Viktoria Obidinia was able to reunite with her daughter.
Viktoria Obidinia was able to reunite with her five-year-old daughter.
Photo: Private