The Ukrainian prisoner of war who did not speak for a year
“It was painful to know how many people, how much time and how much effort it took to free me from Russian captivity,” said Yury Gulchuk. The 22-year-old soldier was a prisoner of war for more than two years. He spent 30 months, between April 2022 and September 2024, being transferred from one Russian prison to another and often suffering beatings and ill-treatment. For almost a year of captivity he did not speak: it served as psychological and physical protection, he said. He remained silent even after returning home. A video of his mother, Milana, hugging his thin body and caressing his face circulated on the Internet. BBC: Yury found it difficult to even talk to his mother after his release. “We love you, we love you,” Milana repeated to make him tal...
