NYT: 2023 southern counteroffensive was undermined by Syrskyi's desire to take back Bakhmut. According to the U.S. officials cited, Syrskyi also called for only newly-trained brigades to be used in the south, keeping experienced brigades for Bakhmut.
Full-scale invasion and national resilience, broadcasted live.
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Two women defy Putin: Snizhana trains soldiers, Valentyna saves lives
Putin’s system tried to break them. Instead, they returned stronger – Snizhana training soldiers on the front, Valentyna saving lives behind it. Snizhana calls her time in captivity fuel for her determination to fight. 9X
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Valentyna continues hospital work despite painful flashbacks
Despite flashbacks, Valentyna continues working long shifts at hospital. She sees the pain of former prisoners and relives hers again. “But if I don’t help them, who will?” she says. 8/
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Ex-POW in Vinnytsia ICU identifies fellow captives by their habits
Now 32, she works in Vinnytsia’s city ICU, treating the most critically wounded soldiers. She can immediately recognize fellow ex-POWs: they flinch, speak little, and stand with hands behind their backs – a habit formed in handcuffs. 6/
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Russian captivity: POWs told they are worthless, psychological damage lingers.
In Russian captivity, POWs were told they were worthless. “When you hear that every day, it becomes your reality,” she says. Some soldiers believe it even after rescue. “I was told the same. That damage lingers.” 7/
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Valentyna: 165 Days of Torture in Russian Prisons After Illich Steel Plant Capture
Valentyna was a combat medic seized at the Illich Steel Plant. She spent 165 days in Russian prisons. They electrocuted her, forced into four different sleeping positions, and beaten during interrogations that blurred day and night. 5/
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Snizhana’s soldiers will take revenge; she dreams of planting flowers in Mariupol
Snizhana told Telegraph that she can’t take revenge herself, but the soldiers she helps recover – will. She dreams of returning to Mariupol – not in combat gear, but with seeds to plant flowers. What she feels now is no longer anger, but true hatred. 4/
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Freed POW returns as junior sergeant running rehab drills for wounded soldiers
After her release, she returned as a junior sergeant in Kramatorsk city, running rehabilitation drills for wounded soldiers just miles from the front. “I want to be the one who welcomes them back,” she says of returning POWs. 3/
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Ukrainian woman Snizhana tortured after defending Azovstal in Mariupol
The Telegraph: Snizhana was 20 when she fought in Mariupol. Captured defending Azovstal, she was locked in a 3x3m cell for 5 months. Guards blasted the Russian anthem 24/7 and interrogated her for hours with no food or rest. They forced her to march naked in the snow. 2/
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Two Ukrainian women turn trauma into commitment: training soldiers and saving lives
The Telegraph published a gripping, charged story about two Ukrainian women – Snizhana Ostapenko and Valentyna Zubko – whose profound trauma from Russian torture became a source of commitment to others. Now Snizhana trains soldiers, Valentyna saves them as a medic 1/