Oksana Kolyada, mother of 22-year-old soldier Orest Orest, who was released from captivity, told how her son managed to avoid torture by the occupiers
Among the 115 defenders who returned from Russian captivity on 24 August was 22-year-old Orest Kolyada, a resident of Lviv region. The young man had been in captivity for over two years.
Orest’s mother, Oksana, learned that Orest had been released from captivity during her speech at a rally in support of all missing and captured persons in Sokal.
Watch the story of how the mother waited for her son and finally got him back in the Suspilne story
Read about the story of her son’s return home in an article by Tetyana Yavorska for Espreso.Zakhid.
The soldier was captured by the Russians at the age of 20. The full-scale invasion began just one day before his 20th birthday.
She learnt about her son’s capture from Russian public media
Orest enlisted in May 2021. Before that, he studied to be a hairdresser. By the time the full-scale war started, he had been in the army for nine months. He was drafted straight into the Marines, 35th Brigade. He had never been interested in military topics before, but as a child he was interested in the history of Ukraine – the Cossacks and Hetmans.
“During his service, he was sent to Chongar. And it so happened that they were the first to be attacked by the enemy. They were withdrawn from Chongar and spent a month and a half in Zaporizhzhia region. During a combat trip to Donetsk region, the boys were captured,” Oksana Kolyada recalls.
On 29 April 2022, she had her last conversation with her son before he was taken prisoner, and on 30 April, the connection with Orest was cut off.
“We knew nothing about him for a month. By hook or by crook, we found out that he had been taken prisoner. We learnt this information from Russian public media, where they posted a photo of him, and later a video of his interrogation. Then I saw what a terrible state my son was in – incredibly thin. And when he spoke, he had a very lisp. I looked closer and saw that his teeth were broken,” says Oksana Kolyada.
He was held in captivity in the Olenivka colony, in Taganrog and other Russian cities, and then taken to an unknown destination.
From December 2022 to February 2023, the mother had no news of her son’s condition or whereabouts. In February, a soldier who had been in captivity with Orest in the Russians’ torture chambers was released from captivity, and he confirmed to his parents that Koliada was alive, although he had lost a lot of weight.
“During his service in the Ukrainian army, my son recovered. They fed their soldiers well here. And you can see from the video that he was very thin. He was never keen on the army, but when he was called up, he didn’t hide like some people. When he knew for sure that he was going to join the army, he started doing more exercise, running cross-country around the village. He loved playing football. He would disappear for days at the makeshift stadium,” the mother said.
Son begged to be rescued from captivity by the occupiers
Oksana Kolyada admits that it was very difficult for her son during his captivity. She could only tell her close friends about her experiences.
“I had tremendous support from my neighbours and the prayer community. All the priests I knew prayed for Orest and all the guys in captivity. We have been praying for 2 years, and that’s probably what kept me going – not to lose heart,” Oksana added.
For the first year, the woman did not attend rallies with her family in support of the prisoners, because she says she thought that after these events, the soldiers would be abused even more. But on 14 December 2023, in the colony where Orest was held, volunteers unknown to his mother gave him the opportunity to call home.
“I had five minutes. He then asked to be taken out of there himself, because it was unbearable. After that, I started attending various events to support the prisoners. I was in Lviv several times, and we organised a rally in Sokal,” the woman added.
By the way, it was at a rally in support of missing persons and prisoners of war that she learned that her Orest had been released.
“My phone rang, but I had several bags and couldn’t find it in time. They were just inviting people to speak, so I went. I started to speak, but suddenly the microphone was taken away from me. I did not understand what had happened, I thought I had said something wrong. Our village elder, who is Orest’s godmother, came up and told me that Orest had been released from captivity and was already on the territory of Ukraine. In the evening, he called me,” she recalled the joyful moment.
The day before, she had a feeling something was going to happen.
“I knew there was going to be an exchange of 115 for 115 people. At that moment, something so warm spread across my chest. These are extraordinary emotions. By the way, when we talked to Orest, he said that he felt guardianship through prayers. “It was as if some invisible force was protecting me, because I managed to avoid brutal torture more than once,” he said. “A mother’s prayer will break down the walls,” Oksana Kolyada concluded.