'Russians invaded my house and held a soldier captive there'

Marina Perederii’s location successful the tiny mining metropolis of Vuhledar successful eastbound Ukraine was her pridefulness and joy.

17 Sadovaya Street was small much than a ammunition erstwhile she and her hubby bought it.

They lovingly renovated the house, coating cherry blossom and doves - symbols of emotion and well-being - successful their bedroom. They built a swimming excavation successful the plot and a sauna successful the basement.

“Everything was planned with specified passion,” she tells the BBC World Service. But the bid wasn’t to last.

In February 2022, Russia launched its full-scale penetration of Ukraine. Marina’s hubby went to combat portion she took their children and ran. Before fleeing, she recorded what she thought could beryllium her past glimpse of their home.

“My beloved house, I don’t cognize if you volition basal oregon not. I don’t cognize if we’ll ever instrumentality here... oregon if we’ll adjacent past astatine all,” she said successful a video.

The adjacent clip she saw her location was a twelvemonth aboriginal successful February 2023, done the eyes of a Russian soldier, successful bodycam footage posted connected societal media.

A marine going by the sanction Fima was successful her surviving room, flicking done photos of Marina and her family. “Beautiful,” helium said, looking astatine 1 photo.

It was a chilling representation that made her angry. “I privation I had taken the albums with me,” Marina says.

Ukraine spent 2 and a fractional years defending Vuhledar earlier Russia took power of the metropolis astatine the commencement of October.

During the agelong battle, successful precocious January 2023, Fima had led a radical of soldiers to the suburbs and got caught successful dense warring connected Sadovaya Street. He and immoderate others entered Marina’s home.

As his bodycam footage went viral backmost home, Fima was hailed arsenic a hero. Official documents amusement that helium was recalled from the beforehand successful February 2023 due to the fact that of a limb wound.

But what the footage didn’t amusement was that the Russians were keeping a Ukrainian worker captive successful Marina’s basement, who was starving and successful hopeless request of aesculapian care. His sanction was Oleksii.

Before the war, Oleksii worked arsenic an IT specialist. When Russia invaded his country, helium volunteered to combat and aboriginal became a drone relation successful Vuhledar. His emotion of dancing earned him the nickname Dancer.

When the Russians broke done Ukrainian lines successful precocious January 2023, Oleksii and his comrades tried to retreat, but immoderate of them, including Oleksii were shot.

Wounded, they were taken from location to location by Russian soldiers, with Oleksii yet ending up successful the basement of Marina’s home.

He was held captive for astir a period - Russian footage uploaded online shows him wrapped successful 1 of Marina’s carpets.

When the Russian soldiers yet retreated, they near Oleksii behind. In each helium spent 46 days successful Marina’s location and for overmuch of that clip helium had hardly immoderate nutrient oregon water.

Injured, starving and dehydrated, helium was incapable to permission the building.

“I was capable to find immoderate crumbs connected the floor,” helium tells the BBC World Service from Kyiv.

“There was a portion of cracker, which a rodent stole from maine astatine night. I hid it, and past the rodent astir apt stole it due to the fact that I couldn’t find it.”

But hunger was thing compared to thirst. One day, aft the Russians had left, the hopeless request for h2o astir killed Oleksii.

He tore panels from the sauna successful the anticipation that determination mightiness beryllium h2o wrong the pipes. He managed to interruption 1 unfastened and drank immoderate of the liquid inside, but it was antifreeze. Those fewer sips caused interior burns and were astir fatal.

Then, successful March that year, erstwhile Ukrainian forces retook parts of Vuhledar and reached Sadovaya Street, different video from Marina’s location went viral. It shows ex-New Zealand worker Kane Te Tai entering fig 17 and uncovering Oleksii.

“New Zealand, New Zealand, it’s me!” Oleksii shouts astatine his colleague, who had travelled to combat for Ukraine. Te Tai died successful conflict conscionable 2 weeks later.

Oleksii was carried retired of the location and to safety.

Had helium been near conscionable a fewer much days, Oleksii says helium wouldn’t person made it.

Several different Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are known to person died successful and astir Sadovaya Street during the conflict for Vuhledar.

“Thank God Oleksii survived. But the information that radical died successful my house, it shocked me,” she says. “There is lone decease successful there.”

The BBC World Service asked the Russian Ministry of Defence astir Oleksii’s attraction but received nary response.

Half a twelvemonth aft Oleksii’s rescue, his Russian captor was being lauded astatine home. He was nary longer conscionable referred to by his telephone sign, Fima, but by his archetypal name, Andrei. State TV footage shows him re-enacting the Vuhledar battle and sharing his experiences with superior schoolhouse children, wherever teachers contiguous him arsenic a hero.

The BBC compared this footage with photographs of Andrei from hundreds of societal media profiles and recovered a lucifer - the aforesaid hairline, the aforesaid mole connected the neck, and wide grounds of a limb injury.

His afloat sanction is Andrei Efimkin - a 28-year-old calved successful Russia’s Far East.

We contacted him and asked astir the video from Sadovaya Street, peculiarly wherever helium flicked done the photos of Marina’s family. He told america helium was playing a “psychological trick” connected himself owed to the incoming gunfire.

“I grabbed the medium and started looking astatine the photos to distract myself,” helium said.

“You know, actually, I felt truthful cold-blooded. For a second, to beryllium honest, these thoughts ran done my caput - astir who lived here.”

But erstwhile asked astir Marina directly, Efimkin said helium didn’t privation to reply immoderate much questions and ended the call.

Marina is present successful Germany. As clip passes, she is trying to physique a caller life, larn a caller connection and find bits of enactment present and determination - but she inactive grieves her mislaid location successful Vuhledar.

“It’s truthful hard. I tin inactive spot my location successful my dreams, it’s ever successful my head. I inactive anticipation that Ukraine volition triumph and everything volition beryllium fine, we volition travel back,” she says.

“My onshore is there, the aerial is mine.”

But backmost connected Sadovaya Street determination is astir thing near of her beloved house, which erstwhile again is nary much than a shell.

It tin beryllium recognised successful drone footage changeable from the aerial by a bluish spot, wherever her swimming excavation utilized to be, lasting retired against a backdrop of grey rubble.