Ukraine Welcomes Home 5 Women Captured by Russia, Including the Police Investigator Mariana Checheliuk

On Friday, May 31, Ukraine returned another 75 Ukrainians, including 5 women, from Russian captivity. Among them is Mariana Checheliuk who worked as an investigator in the National Police before getting captured by the Russians.

In total, the five returned women were illegally detained by Russia for more than 2 years. Their names were revealed by the public feminist initiative "Women's March" within the framework of cooperation with the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. 

• Oksana Viktorivna Alekseyevych (June 29, 1996)

• Nataliia Volodymyrivna Babaeva (November 23, 1972)

• Nataliia Ivanivna Kolisnyk (January 30, 1986)

• Nataliia Valentinivna Manuilova (June 14, 1979)

• Mariana Vitalyivna Checheliuk (January 5, 2000)

"Mommy, I'm home. I'm in Ukraine," Mariana says in a video posted by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Mariana Checheliuk, 24 years old, worked as an investigator in the National Police and was detained by the Russian occupying forces in Mariupol in May 2022. 

After the start of the full-scale invasion, Mariana and her younger sister hid in “Azovstal” from Russia’s shelling. The sisters left “Azovstal” through the humanitarian corridor on May 1, but Mariana was detained at the screening. Russians, who learned about Mariana's profession, took her to the Donetsk detention center. Later, she was transferred to Olenivka colony, Donetsk region, and later to a prison in Taganrog, Russia and temporarily occupied Mariupol.

Mariana’s mother, Nataliia Checheliuk, said that her daughter wrote her letters during the two years of illegal imprisonment, telling her she experienced a lot of torture: she was starved, beaten, and abused in every way. It was very difficult for Mariana to be in the Kremlin torture chambers, both mentally and physically.

While in prison, Mariana has not received a single letter from her mother, although she has been constantly sending them. She knew absolutely nothing about her family, what happened to her, and the location of her imprisonment. The last time Nataliia spoke with her daughter was in August 2022, when she was still in Olenivka. 

According to the Coordination Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, more than 400 Ukrainian women are being held in Russia and in the occupied territories. There are also civilian women whose fate is unknown since 2014.