The rescue of the girls from what was effectively Russian captivity
Before the full-scale war, 16-year-old Masha and 18-year-old Nastia led happy lives — they studied, dreamt, went out with friends and made plans for the future.
Everything changed with the occupation of Kherson — the Russians deceived the girls into leaving and deprived them of a normal life for months.
Initially, Masha and Nastia were taken to occupied Crimea, supposedly for a two-week holiday.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military liberated Kherson from the occupiers and the girls wanted to return home, but the Russians would not let them go.
Masha and Nastia began to rebel — they refused to stand for the Russian anthem, posted patriotic messages on social media, and used Ukrainian symbols.
After two and a half months, the Russians took them to occupied Henichesk, where they were effectively imprisoned in a cold dormitory.
There, the Ukrainian children were punished for displays of patriotism and pressured to obtain a Russian passport. The occupiers reminded the most defiant children of the ‘pit’ (transl. – an improvised detention/torture facility), the ‘military commandant’s office’ and threatened to ‘sew their mouths shut’.
At the request of ‘Slidstvo.Info’, Masha and Nastia documented everything that happened to them, essentially whilst in Russian captivity. The journalists realised they needed to protect their sources, so they began looking for ways to get the girls home.
Moreover, the teenagers faced issues — in a few days, the occupation command was due to come for them. Masha and Nastia were threatened with the “pit” for their behaviour. The journalists realised that they needed to be evacuated urgently — the girls were in serious danger.
