Iryna Dovhan
Iryna Dovhan | |
---|---|
Ірина Довгань | |
Born | USSR | 5 January 1962
Citizenship | Ukraine |
Occupation | beautician |
Iryna Dovhan (
August 2014 incident
Dovhan became famous after photos of her made by Maurício Lima (published in The New York Times) appeared in social and international media, showing her standing at a busy intersection in downtown Donetsk holding a sign identifying her as a spy and reading: "She kills our children". She says passers-by slapped and kicked her, spit on her and hurled tomatoes at her face. A photograph of her mistreatment stirred widespread outrage in Ukraine, prompted a social media effort to identify her and drew the attention of United Nations human rights monitors.[2][3][4][5]
The insurgents who abducted her are associated with the Vostok Battalion, led by former SBU operative Alexander Khodakovsky, accused her for being a spy and an artillery observer for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Iryna Dovhan stated that she was never a spy, but she freely admits to being a volunteer who collected donations (food, clothes, medications, and money) from locals and delivered them to Ukrainian soldiers stationed nearby. She also says she wasn't the only person in Donetsk who helped Ukrainian soldiers through donations. She says that she made a fateful mistake when she took photos of soldiers receiving the collections, with the intention of showing them to people who donated the supplies.[2][3][4][5]
In her interviews to Hromadske.tv and Radio Liberty, she stated that if it hadn't been for those pictures, she might not have ever seen her family again.[citation needed] The Ukrainian television program Vikna filmed an exclusive interview of Dovhan and her family.[6] Dovhan met, thanked and hugged the photographer Maurício Lima, whose photograph drew wide attention to her plight.[5]
Aftermath
After September 2014, Dovhan and her family started rebuilding their lives in Mariupol. They didn't expect financial assistance from the Ukrainian government.[2][3][4][5]
In the
Personal life
Iryna Dovhan is a professional beautician, a native of Yasynuvata and, until recently, a resident of the town. She studied economics and owned a beauty salon in her hometown, which was taken by rebels in April 2014. She is married and in 2014 had a 16-year-old daughter and a 32-year-old son.[2][5]
See also
- 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
- List of kidnappings
- List of solved missing person cases
- War in Donbas
References
- ^ RBK Ukraine
- ^ a b c d "Ukrainian Woman Tells Of Public Abuse At Hands Of Pro-Moscow Separatists". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ a b c "As Peace Talks Approach, Rebels Humiliate Prisoners in Ukraine". The New York Times. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ a b c "Ukrainian Activist Abused in Donetsk: Victim recounts torture at hands of Kremlin-backed insurgents". Ukraine Today. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d e "Ukrainian Woman, Held Up to Public Abuse, Is Released". The New York Times. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ Serheyeva, H. Special report: Ukrainian martyr escaped captivity. "Vikna STB". 3 September 2014
- ^ Ukraine elections: 'The rebels beat me with guns', BBC News (21 October 2014)
- ^ "Електоральна пам'ять". ukr.vote.