This Ukrainian woman beat cancer. But her fight to free her captive husband isn’t over

Kyiv, Ukraine – Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – “You don’t have the moral right to die.”

This is what Olha Kurtmalaieva said he was lying in intensive care, her body closing after emergency chemotherapy. His cancer had progressed in stage 4, which means that he had spread to other parts of his body and was now incurable. The pain was unbearable. Doctors were not sure to spend the night.

She faced death alone in the Ukrainian capital, while her soldier husband was in Russian captivity in the war of more than three years.

“If I die now, who will bring him back?” Olha thought herself. “He has no other in Ukraine.”

Against the chances, she learned that she was in remission last year. But even after several exchanges of prisoners, including one who released more than 1,000 people, her husband, a Ukrainian sailor, remains a captive.

She has not abandoned. At almost all exchanges, she is waiting, one of the hundreds of Ukrainian women who are still trying to bring back their husbands, their sons and their brothers.

“He’s everywhere in my life,” said Olha. “His (photo) is on my phone screen, in my wallet, on the kitchen wall, in each room.”

Day and night, the questions turned into his mind: “What can I do to speed up this? What did I do today to bring him home?”

Olha was only 21 years old when she learned that she had cancer. It was Hodgkin’s lymphoma, stadium 2.. The tumors developed but were still treatable.

“At this age, you think: cancer?” Why me? How? What did I do? ” She recalled. Her husband, Ruslan Kurtmalaiev, promised to stay by her side with each chemotherapy cycle.

When they met, in 2015, he was 21 years old and she was only 15 years old. “It was not love at first sight,” she said with a wide smile, sparkling eyes.

Their attraction gradually collapsed this summer in Berdiansk, in what is now the area occupied by Russia in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. Three years later, as soon as she was 18 years old, they got married.

When they met for the first time, it was not long after Russia illegally seized Crimea, Ruslan’s Homeland, in 2014, and also invaded the east of Ukraine. Ruslan, a professional soldier, had already served on the front line.

From the start, Olha understood that life as a military woman meant a constant sacrifice – long separations, failed milestones and the uncertainty of war. But she never imagined that one day she would wait for her husband to come back from captivity.

When she describes Ruslan, tears well in her eyes. “He’s nice, he has an increased feeling of justice,” she said.

“For him, it was his principle to go home and bring our Crimea back home,” she said, a loss that she only fully understood after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022.

“It was only when I lost my house that I understood it well.”

Olha managed to finish only two chemo sessions before the large -scale invasion. When her long hair started falling, she shaved her head. When she sent a photo to Ruslan, he did not hesitate: “God, you are so beautiful,” he told her.

Later, he made a confession.

“He said to me:” Yeah, I saw your hair falling in the morning. I gathered everything about your pillow before you wake up – so you didn’t get angry. “”

At the time, she thought that losing her hair was the worst thing that could happen to her. But shortly after, she discovered what the real tragedy meant.

Olha has never arrived in his third round of chemo.

She stayed in Berdiansk, who was seized by the Russian forces at the start of the war. Cut of medical care and waiting for news from Ruslan, she quietly began to help the Ukrainian army from the interior of the occupied territory.

“There was no oncology department in Berdiansk. There was simply nowhere to be treated,” she said. “But honestly, I didn’t even care much at the time.”

In early April, she discovered that the Russians had captured Ruslan and others from the unity of her marine forces.

“I started to cry, but I stopped. I said to myself, “Wait. Is it something to cry? He is alive. This is what matters. »»

At the time, she said, their idea of ​​Russian captivity was naive. It was not until later that he became synonymous with torture, famine and medical negligence.

Olha left Berdiansk in June 2022.

“Walking in your own city, but having the impression that it is someone else-it’s horrible,” she said. “There were Russian flags everywhere. I kept Ukrainian music in my headphones. I was afraid that my bluetooth could disconnect, and they would kill me. But it was worth it. “

She spent several months moving between the cities, helping to organize peaceful rallies to raise awareness of Ukrainian prisoners. Finally, she settled in Kyiv. Throughout this period, she paid little attention to her cancer diagnosis, even if her health regularly decreased.

Then his condition worsened suddenly. Its temperature increased to 40 degrees Celsius (104 fahrenheit).

“When the doctor examined my test results, she said,” How do you even work? ” She recalls.

Her lymphoma, left untreated during the occupation, had progressed in stadium 4. Emergency chemotherapy began – and she struck her harshly.

“My second cycle of chemo was disastrous,” she said. She has developed an intestinal blockage, could not digest food and was precipitated towards intensive care. “It was morphine all night of pain. I couldn’t bear myself. I couldn’t sit down. They moved me like a corpse. “

In the hospital, she heard the doctors say that her condition was inoperable. Then a nurse came to her bedside and spoke clearly.

“” We will try to restart your system manually, “she told me.” But if it doesn’t work, you can’t wake up tomorrow. You have to help us as you can. “”

It was the thought of Ruslan, still in captivity, who helped Olha survive.

In April 2024, five days before her birthday, Olha was informed that she was in remission. Now she juggles civic activism with the management of an online cosmetics store. She co -founded the Marine Corps Strength Association, representing more than 1,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war still in captivity.

In close contact with the former prisoners, Olha brings together fragments of information on Ruslan – she had only one telephone call with him in the past three years. She sent several letters but never received an answer.

Like an investigator, she brings together all the details. This is how she discovered that Ruslan had broken coasts and an crushed arm during the regular blows, according to the testimony of one of the prisoners of war.

As part of psychological torture, the Russian national anthem is listened to several times. Tatar of Crimea and Muslim, we only give him Christian religious texts to read – not the worst form of pressure, recognizes Olha, but always a clear violation of his faith.

One day, a Russian guard hit him eight times on his head with a hammer.

“The other prisoners said that they had never seen bruises like that in their lives,” she said.

Ruslan spent months in isolation. And yet, in one way or another, it remains emotionally strong.

“He speaks to others about me,” said Olha, his voice softening. “One of the guys who returned said (Ruslan) said to her:” It’s your age, but she has a business, she is strong, she fights for us. She will get us out. “”

This story remained with her.

“I can’t afford to be weak. How can the wife of a navy be weak? ” Said Olha. “What matters is that he knows that I will continue to fight for him – until the end.”

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The writers of the associated press Vasilisa Stepanenko, Evgeniy Maloletka and Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to this report.

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Follow the coverage of war by AP in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine