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The Ukrainian medic who helped smuggle footage of Russia’s attack on Mariupol out of the country has been freed from Russian captivity, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced.
Yuliia Paievska, who is known in Ukraine as simply Taira, her character name from the World of Warcraft video game, was freed by Russian forces on Friday, three months after she was initially taken captive.
Taira’s husband, Vadim Puzanov, told The Associated Press he was relieved his wife would soon be home.
This undated image provided by the Invictus Games Team Ukraine shows Yuliia Paievska, known as Taira, a celebrated Ukrainian medic who used a body camera to record her work in Mariupol while the port city was under Russian siege. (Invictus Games Team Ukraine via AP)
(Invictus Games Team Ukraine via AP)
“It was such a great sense of relief. Those sound like such ordinary words, and I don’t even know what to say,” Puzanov said.
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During a nightly address Friday, Zelenskyy announced Taira’s release.
“We managed to liberate Taira, Ukrainian paramedic Yuliia Paievska, from captivity. I am grateful to everyone who worked for this result. Taira is already home,” he said. “We will keep working to liberate everyone.”
FILE – Yuliia Paievska, known as Taira, looks in a mirror and turns off her camera in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Feb. 27, 2022. (Yuliia Paievska via AP)
(Yuliia Paievska via AP)
Taira used a body camera she received last year to record over 256 GB of video, including her and her team taking care of wounded Ukrainian and Russian soldiers.
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The videos also showed Russian soldiers mistreating Ukrainian civilians.
FILE – Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol during shelling, in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People’s Republic, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, May 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov, File)
(AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov, File)
She was a member of the Ukraine Invictus Games for military veterans, where she participated in archery and swimming. The body camera she used to capture the now-widely transmitted footage, was given to her in 2021 to record footage for a Netflix documentary.
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After Russia’s military invaded on Feb. 24, she used the device to capture scenes from the war.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
