Olena Rohoza@OlenaRohoza
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Taira (Yulia Paievska) testified before the U.S. Helsinki Commission about the atrocities she witnessed in Mariupol and in Russian captivity. She spent three months in captivity, during which propaganda was carried out against her, accusing her of Nazism. In her testimony, she describes the abuse she endured and refutes these accusations, sharing her personal experience.
Taira about herself:
“My name is Yulia Paievska. My brothers-in-arms call me Taira.
I am a graphic designer by profession, and also the president of one of Ukraine’s aikido federations. The Russians call me a Nazi. That’s what they call everyone who resists them or simply does not want to see Russia in Ukraine. I spent the first 20 days of this war in Mariupol, which turned into hell. After that, I spent 3 months in Russian captivity. And that was hell too.”
On being urged to commit suicide:
“When my torturers suggested that I take my own life, I said no. I wanted to see what would happen tomorrow; I was curious how far they would go in their madness and cruelty. And one day, when it seemed there was no hope, someone looked through the peephole and called my name. ‘Take your things and come out’ — that’s how my path to freedom began.”
On the Russian empire:
“A colossus with feet of clay — that is the essence of the Russian empire. This has been proven by our army, which is driving the enemy from our land. Thank you for everything you are doing to help us expel them, but more is needed. I hope you are not here out of curiosity — I hope you are here to make sure this does not continue.”
On those still in captivity:
“Pregnant prisoners whose fate is unknown to their families and the state. A fighter who was beaten for three hours and then thrown into a basement like a sack, and only a day later did someone come to him.”
On the horrors in Mariupol:
“A dead child in a mother’s arms, a seven-year-old boy with a gunshot wound dying in my arms because I cannot stop death. Prisoners screaming in their cells for weeks and dying from torture without medical care, in unbearable agony. The only thing they feel before death is humiliation and beatings. I remember the eyes of my friend that I closed before his body went cold, then another friend, and another, and another…
I saw hundreds of thousands of people dying under airstrikes — systematic, planned. Strikes on hospitals and residential areas. A hospital overflowing with wounded soldiers and civilians, where painkillers had run out, and other medicines — antibiotics too would soon be gone. Surgeons and medical staff sleeping three hours a day because operations never stopped. Medical evacuation vehicles arriving every 5–10 minutes, with the living and the dead lying on top of each other — sometimes impossible to tell them apart. Vehicles burning with people inside. Police pulling women and children from the rubble, mutilated beyond recognition. People collecting water from puddles. Looted homes. Dogs, once pets, dragging human limbs through the streets.”
On the occupiers’ “justice”:
“Prisoners are forced to undress before being slowly killed. Specially equipped torture rooms. The cases against prisoners are identical — only the name is changed in the documents, and sometimes even the gender is not corrected. No one actually investigates anything. Evidence is obtained exclusively through inhumane torture. It all resembles the Middle Ages. I am a witness to this, as are thousands of prisoners. I speak on their behalf.”
The soldier who died over six days:
“Our soldier was dying in the neighboring cell. He screamed for six days. Alone. On the seventh day, his cellmates placed his body on a stretcher so the guards could take what remained of him. Another soldier died quietly from torture, and we learned of his death later. He received no medical care. And this is only a small part of what I personally know.”
On Russia’s impunity:
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