Ukrainian boxing coach records video from captivity by occupiers

Ukrainian boxing coach Dmytro Shurda, who was captured by the occupiers in Mariupol in March 2022, recorded his first video. Shurda, dressed as a prisoner, is filmed against the backdrop of a school blackboard with a date.

In the 18-second video, our compatriot sends greetings to his relatives and the Ukrainian boxing team.

"Hello to all my colleagues, coaches, everyone. I am alive. Everything is fine," Dmytro says in a trembling voice.

The man saw the full-scale invasion in Lutsk at a competition, but later returned to his native Mariupol to do volunteer work while his daughter and wife evacuated to safety.

He was detained at one of the checkpoints in the occupied city. According to Dmytro's daughter, Ukrainian diving champion Nika Shurda, her father was placed in a detention centre in Donetsk, where he suffered a heart attack in April 2022.

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