Eight years of captivity: Finding freedom and therapeutic in Ukraine | EUROtoday

Four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many individuals are attempting to beat deep-rooted trauma and rebuild what has been misplaced.

For many the trauma predates the Russian invasion and is linked to a battle that started within the nation’s south and east, together with the Donetsk area, in 2014.

Yurii Shapovalov, who was dwelling in Donetsk on the time, and who was detained by Russian-installed authorities, spent almost eight years in captivity. Now free, he’s attempting to restart his life.

‎“In a tiny cell, I tried to do physical exercises,” Yurii mentioned. “But mentally, it was very difficult. The conditions were too much to bear.”

Before the battle erupted in jap Ukraine in 2014, Yurii labored as a neurophysiologist on the Donetsk Regional Diagnostics Centre.

In his spare time he ran the native Cactus Enthusiasts Society and cared for his aged mom.

When pro-Russian forces seized management of Donetsk, Yurii and his mom stayed. They couldn’t think about leaving their dwelling behind.

Recovery after detention

He started documenting every day life in Donetsk, a metropolis in southern Ukraine, via an nameless social media account. It was a small act of protest, nevertheless it got here at a value. In 2018, he was arrested.

“I was beaten and forced to work,” he mentioned. For months, his mom didn’t know the place he was. Without help from dwelling, he lacked fundamental requirements and recalled sporting winter sneakers via the summer time warmth.

In 2020, he was sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony. “I told myself I had to preserve who I was – not to succumb, not to break, to hold on,” Yurii mentioned.  ‎

‎There had been losses he couldn’t put together for. “My mother didn’t get to see me come back,” he mentioned. “She passed away.”

Yurii additionally misplaced the life he had constructed. His in depth assortment of cacti – one thing he had cared for deeply – was left behind. Friends later moved it to the Donetsk Botanical Garden, hoping to protect no less than a number of the crops. “By then, there was nothing left of my previous life.”

Tailored assist

In the summer time of 2025, Yurii was lastly launched via a prisoner alternate between Russia and Ukraine.

After receiving preliminary help at a public hospital, he was referred to the International Migration Agency’s (IOM) Protection Medical Rehabilitation Centre in Kyiv, a specialised facility offering care to survivors of human trafficking and of gender-based and conflict-related violence.

There, medical doctors recognized his pressing well being wants and facilitated additional important cardiological and neurological therapy.

Since 2024, IOM Ukraine has recognized and supported greater than 4,700 survivors of war-related violence, together with civilian survivors of captivity like Yurii.

“Many need long-term treatment,” mentioned Olha Shcherbatiuk, IOM National Rehabilitation Centre Officer.

Beyond medical care, IOM helps long-term restoration via survivor-led teams and nationwide initiatives addressing war-related abuses.

Returning to work

‎“Maybe I did manage to preserve myself,” Yurii mirrored. But the results stay. After years in captivity, on a regular basis duties grew to become unfamiliar. “Using a phone, an elevator, even the subway felt difficult,” he defined.

His former colleagues, who had left Donetsk years earlier, had been among the many first to help him after his launch, together with monitoring down and verifying his coaching and employment data.

Only then will he be capable to take refresher programs and return to work, hopefully as a baby neurologist.

When requested what brings him pleasure now, Yurii paused.

“Having my own place,” he mentioned. “Time to be alone, to think, to put things in order,” and to as soon as once more nurture cacti.