A Ukrainian paramedic recorded her life-saving efforts in war-torn Mariupol with a tiny data card that was later smuggled out of the country in a tampon by daring reporters.
Eventually captured by Russian soldiers, Yuliia Paievska was originally given the bodycam to film a Netflix documentary about the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded troops or veterans founded by Britain’s Prince Harry.
But as Russian forces invaded the country, she turned the camera to efforts to rescue wounded Russian soldiers as well as Ukrainian civilians at a military hospital in the besieged city.
A March 10 clip showed two Russian soldiers, including one in a wheelchair, being taken from an ambulance by a Ukrainian soldier.
A Ukrainian soldier then verbally abused the Russian troops, prompting Paievska to respond.
Yuliia Paievska, a Ukrainian medic, filmed her efforts to save lives in Mariupol. Yuliia Paievska via AP
Yuliia Paievska filmed her efforts on a data card that was smuggled out of the country in a tampon. Yuliia Paievska via AP
Yuliia Paievska was originally given the bodycam to film the Invictus games.AP
Yuliia Paievska helped train Ukraine’s volunteer paramedics. Yuliia Paievska via AP
A brother and sister whose parents were killed by Russian shelling have been taken to hospital. Yuliia Paievska via AP
“Calm down, calm down,” she said.
“Will you treat the Russians?” A woman then asked her.
“They won’t be so kind to us,” Paievska replied. “But I couldn’t help it. They are prisoners of war.”
Paievska — better known as Taira in Ukraine, where she helped train the country’s volunteer paramedics — managed to get the footage to Associated Press journalists on March 15, one of whom fled in a tampon with it.
A day later, the 53-year-old paramedic and her driver were arrested by Russian forces.
A news program in Russia on March 21 then announced her capture – showing her disheveled as she read a statement calling for an end to the war, while a voiceover accused her colleagues of being Nazis.
Russia believes Paievska is allied with the nationalist Azov Battalion, a volunteer militia formed in 2014 and embroiled in fighting with Russian forces in the Donbass region.
Paievska is now among hundreds of local officials, journalists and other Ukrainians kidnapped or captured by Russian forces.
The medic’s plight is shared with the world as Mariupol faces falling to the Russian military, which said on Thursday that 1,730 Ukrainian troops have surrendered at the port city’s bombed steel plant since Monday.
Yuliia Paievska recorded treating a Ukrainian soldier’s open head wound on the first day of the Russian invasion. Yuliia Paievska via AP
Yuliia Paievska’s footage focused on medics’ efforts to rescue civilians and the Ukrainian and Russian military. Yuliia Paievska via AP
Yuliia Paievska closes the eyes of a boy killed during the Russian invasion. Yuliia Paievska via AP
Yuliia Paievska was captured by Russian forces along with her driver. Yuliia Paievska via AP
Weeks before her capture, Paievska recorded herself tending to a Ukrainian soldier’s open head wound on February 24 — the first day of the Russian invasion.
She later ordered her colleagues on February 26 to help a Russian soldier by handing him a blanket while calling the young fighter “Sunshine,” a nickname she used regularly when treating the wounded.
“You take care of me,” the Russian soldier told her.
“We treat everyone equally,” Paievska replied.
The last known footage of Paievska from March 9 shows her sitting next to her driver, Serhiy, who also later disappeared.
“Two weeks of war, besieged Mariupol,” she said in the clip.
The Invictus Games website shared a post asking for help for Paievska.
“Taira has saved more than 500 lives of Ukrainian military personnel since the Russian invasion began in 2014,” the website reads. “Now her own life must be saved.”
When someone verbally abused injured Russian soldiers, Yuliia Paievska told the person to calm down. Yuliia Paievska via AP
Yuliia Paievska has saved the lives of more than 500 Ukrainian military personnel since the Russians first invaded in 2014. AP
Yuliia Paievska told an injured Russian soldier that “we treat everyone equally”. Yuliia Paievska via AP
With mail wires