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

KYIV – “You person nary motivation close to die.”

That’s what Olha Kurtmalaieva told herself arsenic she laic successful intensive care, her assemblage shutting down aft exigency chemotherapy. Her crab had progressed to Stage 4, meaning it had dispersed to different parts of her assemblage and was present incurable. The symptom was unbearable. The doctors weren’t definite she’d marque it done the night.

She was facing decease unsocial successful the Ukrainian capital, portion her worker hubby was successful Russian captivity successful the more than three-year war.

“If I dice now, who volition bring him back?" Olha thought to herself. "He has nary 1 other successful Ukraine.”

Against the odds, she learned she was successful remission past year. But adjacent aft aggregate captive exchanges, including one that freed implicit 1,000 people, her husband, a Ukrainian marine, remains a captive.

She hasn’t fixed up. At astir each exchange, she’s determination waiting, 1 of hundreds of Ukrainian women inactive trying to bring location their husbands, sons and brothers.

“He’s everyplace successful my life,” Olha said. “His (photo) is connected my telephone screen, successful my wallet, connected the room wall, successful each room.”

Day and night, questions circled successful her mind: “What tin I bash to velocity this up? What did I bash contiguous to bring him home?”

Life earlier Russia’s full-scale invasion

Olha was conscionable 21 erstwhile she learned she had cancer. It was Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Stage 2. The tumors were increasing but were inactive treatable.

“At that age, you’re thinking: cancer? Why me? How? What did I do?” she recalled. Her husband, Ruslan Kurtmalaiev, promised to enactment by her broadside done each circular of chemotherapy.

When they met, successful 2015, helium was 21 and she was conscionable 15. “It wasn’t emotion astatine archetypal sight,” she said with a wide smile, eyes sparkling.

Their attraction blossomed gradually that summertime successful Berdiansk, successful what is present the Russian-occupied portion successful the confederate Zaporizhzhia region. Three years later, arsenic soon arsenic she turned 18, they wed.

When they archetypal met, it was not agelong aft Russia illegally seized Crimea, Ruslan's homeland, successful 2014, and besides invaded eastbound Ukraine. Ruslan, a nonrecreational soldier, had already served connected the beforehand line.

From the beginning, Olha understood that beingness arsenic a subject woman meant changeless sacrifice — agelong separations, missed milestones, and the uncertainty of war. But she ne'er imagined that 1 time she would beryllium waiting for her hubby to instrumentality from captivity.

When she describes Ruslan, tears good up successful her eyes. “He’s kind, helium has a heightened consciousness of justice,” she said.

“For him, it was a substance of rule to instrumentality location and bring our Crimea home,” she said, a nonaccomplishment she afloat comprehended lone aft Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022.

“Only erstwhile I mislaid my location did I afloat recognize him."

Facing crab and hairsbreadth loss

Olha managed to implicit lone 2 sessions of chemo earlier the full-scale invasion. When her agelong hairsbreadth began to autumn out, she shaved her head. When she sent Ruslan a photo, helium didn’t hesitate: “God, you’re truthful beautiful,” helium told her.

Later, helium made a confession.

“He told me, ‘Yeah, I saw your hairsbreadth falling retired successful the mornings. I gathered it each from your pillow earlier you woke up — truthful you wouldn’t get upset.’”

At the time, she believed that losing her hairsbreadth was the worst happening that could hap to her. But soon after, she discovered what existent calamity meant.

War and captivity

Olha ne'er made it to her 3rd circular of chemo.

She stayed successful Berdiansk, which was seized by Russian forces successful the aboriginal days of the war. Cut disconnected from aesculapian attraction and waiting for quality of Ruslan, she softly began helping the Ukrainian subject from wrong occupied territory.

“There was nary oncology section successful Berdiansk. There was simply obscurity to get treated,” she said. “But honestly, I didn’t adjacent attraction that overmuch astatine the time.”

In aboriginal April, she discovered that Russians had captured Ruslan and others from his marine forces’ unit.

“I started to cry, but past I stopped myself. I thought, ‘Wait. Is this thing to outcry about? He’s alive. That’s what matters.’”

At the time, she said, their thought of Russian captivity was naive. Only aboriginal did it go synonymous with torture, starvation and aesculapian neglect.

Olha near Berdiansk successful June of 2022.

“Walking done your ain city, but feeling similar it’s idiosyncratic else’s — that’s horrifying,” she said. “There were Russian flags everywhere. I kept Ukrainian euphony successful my headphones. I was frightened my Bluetooth mightiness disconnect, and they’d termination me. But it was worthy it.”

She spent respective months moving betwixt cities, helping to signifier peaceful rallies to rise consciousness astir Ukrainian POWs. Eventually, she settled successful Kyiv. Throughout that time, she paid small attraction to her crab diagnosis, adjacent arsenic her wellness steadily declined.

Then her information worsened sharply. Her somesthesia spiked to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

“When the doc looked astatine my trial results, she said, ‘How are you adjacent walking?’” she recalled.

Her lymphoma, near untreated during occupation, had progressed to Stage 4. Emergency chemotherapy began — and it deed her hard.

“My 2nd circular of chemo was disastrous,” she said. She developed an intestinal blockage, couldn’t digest food, and was rushed to intensive care. “It was morphine each nighttime from the pain. I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t sit. They moved maine similar a dormant body.”

In the hospital, she overheard doctors accidental her information was inoperable. Then a caregiver came to her bedside and spoke plainly.

“‘We’re going to effort to restart your strategy manually,’ she told me. ‘But if it doesn’t work, you whitethorn not aftermath up tomorrow. You indispensable assistance america nevertheless you can.’”

It was the thought of Ruslan, inactive successful captivity, that helped Olha survive.

Unanswered letters

In April 2024, 5 days earlier her birthday, Olha was told she was successful remission. Now she juggles civic activism with moving an online cosmetics store. She co-founded the Marine Corps Strength Association, representing implicit 1,000 Ukrainian POWs inactive successful captivity.

In adjacent interaction with erstwhile prisoners, Olha gathers fragments of accusation astir Ruslan — she has had lone 1 telephone telephone with him successful the past 3 years. She sent respective letters but ne'er received a reply.

Like an investigator, she pieces unneurotic each detail. That’s however she discovered that Ruslan had breached ribs and a crushed limb during regular beatings, according to the grounds of 1 of the POWs.

As portion of the intelligence torture, helium is made to perceive to the Russian nationalist anthem repeatedly. A Crimean Tatar and a Muslim, helium is fixed lone Christian spiritual texts to work — not the worst signifier of pressure, Olha acknowledges, but inactive a wide usurpation of his faith.

One day, a Russian defender struck him 8 times connected the caput with a hammer.

“The different prisoners said they had ne'er seen bruises similar that successful their lives,” she said.

Ruslan spent months successful solitary confinement. And yet, somehow, helium remains emotionally strong.

“He tells the others astir me,” Olha said, her dependable softening. “One of the guys who came backmost said (Ruslan) told him: ‘She’s your age, but she’s got a business, she’s strong, she’s warring for us. She’ll get america out.’”

That communicative stayed with her.

“I can’t spend to beryllium weak. How tin a marine’s woman beryllium weak?” Olha said. “What matters is that helium knows I’ll support warring for him — until the precise end."

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Associated Press writers Vasilisa Stepanenko, Evgeniy Maloletka and Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to this report.

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