The marine from the 36th Marine Brigade, Yurii Hulchuk, who was returned on September 14 along with 102 other servicemen, lost his ability to speak and feel emotions due to torture in Russian captivity.

Yurii was studying Chinese philology but decided to join the marines in 2021. He was captured on April 12, 2022, at the Illich Steel Plant in Mariupol.

He was moved between several Russian prisons, including in Mordovia, one of the harshest places for Ukrainian POWs. His comrades reported that Yurii was starved, and he was tortured with a stun gun by a guard known as 'Dr. Evil.' As a result of the beatings, Yurii also lost the ability to walk. He spent over two years in captivity.

We wrote about Yurii just after his return from Russian captivity following a prisoner exchange. He is now undergoing rehabilitation.

Despite grim predictions, he now began to walk and speak!

According to his mother, the first thing he said was: 'Why so much pain? Why are people so cruel to one another?'