"Before going to Mariupol, Alina said to me: "Illa, maybe we shouldn't go? I have a bad feeling." And I say to her: "Everything will be fine, let's go and return home", - border guard Ilya recalls a conversation with his girlfriend.
At the end of 2021, a couple of border guards - Alina and Ilya - transferred from the border in the Volyn region to Mariupol, to work at the port. From February 24, they defended the city together from Russian troops. Later, Ilya got to the Ilyich plant, and Alina to Azovstal.
On April 12, the Russians captured Ilya, his beloved Alina - a month later, on May 17. Since then, the couple did not know anything about each other. In October 2022, Alina was exchanged, while Ilya got to Ukraine only in January 2024, after 20 months in captivity.
"I immediately called my father, told him that I had been exchanged, and the first thing I asked was: "What happened to Alina?". I didn't know anything about her, I had already buried her many times, because I was told that Azovstal was shelled a lot," says Ilya.
Nowadays, says Ilya, he still feels uneasy: "I can raise my head, put my hands in my pockets, go where I want, and no one will do anything to me. The only thing I want now is peace and to forget everything that happened as soon as possible."
How this couple of border guards survived Russian captivitiy and separation - watch in our video.
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