"Not for a second did I doubt that she would return": mother of "Ptashka" from Azovstal about her daughter's release from captivity

She said this on the air of the Espreso TV channel.

On September 21, as a result of the exchange of prisoners from Russian captivity, 215 defenders of Ukraine were returned.  Among them was paramedic Kateryna Polishchuk with the call sign "Bird" from Azovstal.

Kateryna Svitlana Polishchuk's mother learned about her daughter's release by phone.

"I talked to my daughter. I found out about the exchange from her words, she called me. Yesterday we had a long conversation for such a period, we haven't talked enough yet, but we talked for a very long time," Polishchuk said.

The mother of "Ptashka" noted that her daughter asked and was more interested in the lives of her relatives in the conversation than she talked about herself.

"Kateryna asked more, was interested in what we have. We used to have a lot of contact with our daughter, but now it was stolen from us, now we want to make up for everything," she said.

The woman said that she held on for the sake of her daughter, because she believed that "Ptashka" would definitely return to Ukraine.

"I held on for the sake of my daughter. I knew, I believed, I did not doubt for a second that she would return to us, that she would be exchanged. I drew strength from everything, all the positive things that are around us. And I want to say for myself that I  I know how hard it is to wait, but you must not lose heart, you must hold on, hope and pray. And there will definitely be a meeting. During the whole war I spoke to her five times, sometimes we corresponded. I did not know what conditions she was in , but I guessed that she was in Olenivka. It is still unknown when the meeting will be," Svitlana Polishchuk noted.

Kateryna's mother shared that when her daughter was at the factory, the woman understood that at any moment there could be a message from there that she would not wish on anyone.  While Kateryna was in captivity, Mrs. Svitlana believed that her daughter would be released and therefore waited for a call about the exchange.

"I want to tell everyone to wait. Patience and faith. And everyone will definitely see their daughters, sons, husbands, women. You will see them, but you just have to wait a little longer. And everything will be fine," said "Ptashka's" mother.