A 23-year-old defender of Mariupol named Valeriy, who was recently released from russian captivity, has not seen his relatives since the exchange.
He was born in the currently occupied territories of Zaporizhia region, so he does not know the fate of his relatives or who he could call!
This was reported by journalist Yulia Surkova.
The man asked the journalists to tell a girl named Ruslana, who lives somewhere in Ukraine and whom they knew before the captivity, that he is alive.
“I’m going to cry now… Now I have a new task – to think up something to dream about again. For 3 years and 3 months, I dreamed of one thing – to be free,” says Valeriy.
Tags: EMPR Projects freedom dream human resilience Mariupol defender military projects POW story Russian captivity ukraine war
![Ukrainian troops counterattack in Dnipropetrovsk region and Russian forces press toward Sloviansk with artillery and drones along dynamic war front. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}](https://empr.media/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/map-300x169.png)
![Contemporary Ukrainian war art installation and mixed-media pieces reflecting displacement, trauma, memory and resilience on the fourth invasion anniversary. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}](https://empr.media/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/art-300x169.png)
