4 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 a lot of the trauma predates the Russian invasion and is linked to a battle that started in the nation’s south and east, together with the Donetsk area, in 2014.
Yurii Shapovalov, who was residing in Donetsk on the time, and who was detained by Russian-installed authorities, spent practically eight years in captivity. Now free, he’s making an attempt to restart his life.
“In a tiny cell, I attempted to do bodily workouts,” Yurii stated. “However mentally, it was very tough. The situations had been an excessive amount of to bear.”
Earlier than 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 Fanatics Society and cared for his aged mom.
When pro-Russian forces seized management of Donetsk, Yurii and his mom stayed. They may not think about leaving their residence behind.
IOM gives tailor-made help to survivors of war-related violence.
Restoration 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 used to be overwhelmed and pressured to work,” he stated. For months, his mom didn’t know the place he was. With out help from residence, he lacked fundamental requirements and recalled sporting winter footwear via the summer season warmth.
In 2020, he was sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony. “I instructed myself I needed to protect who I used to be – to not succumb, to not break, to carry on,” Yurii stated.
There have been losses he couldn’t put together for. “My mom didn’t get to see me come again,” he stated. “She handed 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. Pals later moved it to the Donetsk Botanical Backyard, hoping to protect at the least some of the crops. “By then, there was nothing left of my earlier life.”
Yurii continues his restoration after years of detention, receiving help to handle each bodily and psychological well being wants.
Tailor-made support
In the summertime of 2025, Yurii was lastly launched via a prisoner change between Russia and Ukraine.
After receiving preliminary help at a public hospital, he was referred to the Worldwide Migration Company’s (IOM) Safety 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 remedy.
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 want long-term remedy,” stated Olha Shcherbatiuk, IOM Nationwide Rehabilitation Centre Officer.
Past medical care, IOM helps long-term restoration via survivor-led teams and nationwide initiatives addressing war-related abuses.
Following his launch, Yurii is rebuilding his life step-by-step, together with reconnecting with former colleagues.
Returning to work
“Perhaps I did handle to protect myself,” Yurii mirrored. However the results stay. After years in captivity, on a regular basis duties grew to become unfamiliar. “Utilizing a cellphone, an elevator, even the subway felt tough,” 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.
Solely then will he have the ability to take refresher programs and return to work, hopefully as a toddler neurologist.
When requested what brings him pleasure now, Yurii paused.
“Having my very own place,” he stated. “Time to be alone, to suppose, to place issues in order,” and to as soon as once more nurture cacti.
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