"Before leaving Azovstal, she said, 'Have faith'." The story of paramedic Tetiana Vasylchenko

At the age of 49, accountant Tetiana Vasylchenko retired and, unexpectedly for everyone, decided to become a paramedic.

"My mother wanted to save lives. Her friends have been at war since 2014, and some have died. She had a special attitude to all this. On the one hand, I was surprised by her decision, but on the other hand, it reflects the mother's temperament. She always did something that was shocking to everyone. But in the end, everything worked out for her," says Tetiana's daughter, Kateryna Bas.

"She wouldn't choose another path: sitting back and just receiving a pension is not about her. Maximalism is inherent in her: if she decided something, so shall it be," Natalia Vasylchenko, Tetiana's sister, who is four years older than her, says.

Tetiana completed "Hospitallers" training for paramedics in Pavlohrad, and in October 2021, she started going on rotations. She was sent to Mariupol direction.

"We didn't talk about a full-scale war. Mom is very restrained in this regard, especially since she started going on rotations. She never said much, and I didn't ask her any questions either. We discussed a full-scale invasion with friends, but my mother wasn't actively involved in such discussions."

"I'm alive, everything's okay, talk to you later"

On February 23, Natalia saw her sister off to the train to Mariupol.

“She was alarmed. ‘The boys say that there is some strange activity, but we will see,’ she told me. She was so serious, she said that she would definitely give a call when she arrived," recalls Natalia.

Connection with Tetiana appeared rarely. She texted briefly: "I'm alive, everything's okay, talk to you later." From time to time, she warned her relatives in Khmelnytskyi about air raid sirens and asked them to take them seriously and to hide in shelters.

After March 2, the connection with Tetiana was interrupted. Relatives had a hard time going through this period.

"When there was no news from my sister, I lost track of time. I couldn't say what day it was today. There was just emptiness. The relief only came when Kateryna (Tetiana's daughter – ed.) called and said that Tetiana had gotten in touch."

Once, there was no news from Tetiana for 15 days. At that time, Tetiana's brigade was moving from its positions from "zero" to Mariupol and from there to Azovstal.

“Those who had a connection were handing over to the relatives the ‘letters from the Middle Ages’. It was a photographed note with the collected information about who was seen.

Probably, each family has its own keywords: they were written on this piece of paper. Among them was a message from my mother that she was alive and everything was okay."

On May 16, before leaving Azovstal, Tetiana sent her daughter a short message with the word, "Have faith." Kateryna did not immediately understand, what that was about, until she heard the news about the evacuation from the plant. Then her mother's message became clear.

"My mother was very attentive to the content of her messages. She's never told extra details. Even when I dared to ask something, she said: ‘Don't clog up the air’."

On May 24, Natalia saw Tetiana on one of the videos from Russian channels. The paramedic stood at the end of the line, wearing a hood.

"She was very serious, concentrated, well-put-together. In a couple of seconds, she was taken aside to put things out."

Recognized as a prisoner of war

Kateryna immediately started calling all the "hotlines." It was confirmed to her that Tetiana was on the list of evacuees from the plant. The very next day, the girl received a call from the Red Cross. They said that they had spoken with Tetiana and had seen her in person. On June 8, the woman contacted her family.

"She said that she is in captivity, in the colony in occupied Olenivka, and they were being fed. I understood that she was calling under the control of the colony workers. She said that the Red Cross representatives were there only on the first day, then she didn't see them anywhere. They could not physically process information about all the prisoners, so to this day, there are cases when families do not know where their sons, husbands, and relatives are. They are neither on the lists of the Red Cross nor on the lists of the national hotline."

During the call, Tetiana still managed to tell her relatives not to be silent about her captivity.

Now, Kateryna is working to ensure that her mother is released as soon as possible: she has united with the relatives of other defenders from Khmelnytskyi, who were also captured after being at Azovstal, and keeps their lists.

"Now I have information about ten people. We are assisted by a lawyer who has been dealing with prisoners of war since 2014."

And on July 22, Tetiana's sister received a call from the center for the search and release of prisoners of war and confirmed that Russia did admit that Tetiana Vasylchenko was in their captivity.

"When there is no such confirmation, they seem to deny that this person exists at all. Then it's hard. I was told that she should be treated according to international law, which of course, is funny to hear. But I hope that this is a chance for Tetiana's release."

This text was created in August as part of the special project "In Steel Arms" which includes more than 30 stories of different people who were united by Azovstal. These are stories about hope and struggle, about the thirst for freedom and love for Ukraine.

Now Tetiana Vasylchenko is finally in Ukraine: she is one of the 108 women who were released from Russian captivity on October 17.