“Are you betraying us?” Mariana heard after being struck in the legs with a rifle butt, causing her to fall to the floor. For the following week, the bruises were a painful reminder of the interrogation.

During the occupation, Mariana was interrogated multiple times. They tortured her, made threats, and checked her phone and documents. The reason for the persecution was Mariana’s origin. She was born in one of the western regions of Ukraine. For that, they called her a “Nazi” and accused her of passing information about the movement of enemies’ troops.

Once, they found a post on her phone where she had written: “Glory to Ukraine!” She was taken for a multi-hour interrogation at the police station and forced to sign some documents. At that time, they offered her a “deal”: in order not to include these materials in the official report, Mariana had to turn in Ukrainian soldiers.

But the most horrifying thing was that the occupiers constantly threatened to take away her 3-year-old daughter. Mariana still remembers with horror how they told her they would take her child to the front line and only if she survived they would return. Under pressure, Mariana was also forced to get the passport and documents for her daughter.

But the persecution didn’t end there. The occupiers tried to evict her from her home and constantly threatened her with deportation. She began searching for ways to escape, but all seemed impossible. Even when acquaintances gave her the phone number for Save Ukraine, Mariana didn’t believe she could escape.
However, Save Ukraine helped Mariana escape the occupation, though it was a journey through hell. She was checked and interrogated at every checkpoint, despite being with a small child who constantly cried from exhaustion.

Now, Mariana and her daughter are safe. However, she still dreams of the occupation and her escape every night. Ahead of her lies a long road of recovery and returning to regular life.

Ukrainians who ended up in occupied territories endure hell. Share this video so that as many people as possible learn about the horrors happening under occupation. Every repost counts.