Mellon
Olena "Mellon" Maksymenko: Olena, a Ukrainian journalist, was seized and held as a POW in March 2014 by Russian authorities in Crimea after she traveled there to investigate. She was interrogated and tortured for three days under suspicion that she was a spy for the United States. After her release, she went East and volunteered in an organization supporting citizens caught in the crossfire of the war, and after joined the Right Sector as a volunteer paramedic. Olena continues to travel to the frontline as a journalist and is a "reservist" for the Right Sector as a paramedic, should there be another war escalation. READ EXCERPT FROM OLENA'S STORY