Maria Kovalchuk has spoken out for the first time following her ordeal, which saw the young model found seriously injured in Dubai after going missing for more than a week
Ukrainian model found on roadside with broken spine speaks out
A wheelchair-bound Ukrainian model who was found seriously injured in Dubai after going missing for more than a week has pointed the finger at “rich Russian kids”.
Maria Kovalchuk was discovered on a roadside in March, amid fears she had been kidnapped into “sexual slavery”. The 20-year-old, who suffered horrific injuries including a broken spine and limbs, had been in a coma after she was found close to death having “fallen from a height.” Based on the testimony of some reported friends, there were fears that Maria had been a victim of a notorious Porta Potty party in Dubai – where rich men are reported to pay large sums to abuse and degrade attractive young women, including those with social media profiles.
Maria – who did not speak before leaving Dubai – has now revealed she is recovering from her ordeal in Norway, where her mother lives. The model, who has a prominent scar on her forehead after undergoing multiple surgeries, denied that citizens of the United Arab Emirates were behind her torture.
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Instead, she pointed the finger at “rich Russian kids” who she alleges abused her after a party in a hotel. She claimed that her expensive medical treatment was paid for by the Dubai authorities. Her mother, Anna, said: “I don’t know how much they paid – the sum was colossal, millions.”
Russian news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti, which spoke to Maria in Norway, claimed that “in exchange, she was asked not to say anything that would cast the Emirates’ authorities in a negative light.” Maria said: “I mostly use a wheelchair and crutches.
“I still have a leg fracture that’s healing. I’m learning to walk with crutches again, but for now, the wheelchair is my main means of moving around.” Recalling the incident, Maria said she had been in Dubai to get content for her job as a model when she overslept and missed her onward flight to Thailand.
According to the report, she met a young man – whom she had previously met at a karaoke bar – in the lobby of the Five Jumeirah Village hotel. The 19-year-old man in question lives with his father in Dubai. The report said: “She told him her air ticket had gone to waste and she had to check out of her hotel.
“[He] offered for her to stay in his room and claimed that his father could fly her to Thailand on a private jet.” Maria then claimed that there was a party with the children of wealthy Russian and Ukrainian businessmen. She admitted she agreed to go with the man and his friends – hoping it would lead to a free flight to Thailand, but the atmosphere turned sour.
“They started teasing me, why I wasn’t drinking,” she told prominent Russian journalist Ksenia Sobchak at Ostorozhno.Media. “Then some aggressive pushes like pushing in the shoulders began. After that, they started making fun of me like ‘you belong to us, we will do whatever we want.’
“I tried to take it as a joke, because it was really weird. They started behaving inappropriately, smashing bottles on the floor. That is, the entire floor was strewn with broken glass, that is, it was impossible to walk there.
“Then they started intimidating me, smashing glass. After that, they took my personal belongings, which included my passport. And one of the girls….put on my things and just left in them, although before that I asked her not to do this, [and] to leave my things. That is, no one heard me, and she just left the hotel in my dress.”
This woman is now out of contact. The men “hinted” they wanted sex, she said, adding: “I did not reciprocate, and this aggression was also heating them up.”
The report claimed that “amid the violence, Maria tried to flee “but the young men “dragged her back into the room.” It added: “When they stepped out onto the balcony, she escaped and hid at a nearby construction site.” Then the men, who were “out of their minds” by this point, allegedly found her at the construction site and “beat her”.
“They practically tore the skin off her scalp, then threw her off a ledge onto the road,” said the account. “I ran away. Then, already on the street, when I was, I didn’t see them anymore, but I knew they were coming,” said Maria. “I ran to the nearest building, just scared, and ran in, hid there. It was just an unfinished building, open.”
Maria doesn’t remember the violence itself that led to her injuries, and the CCTV footage has since been erased, she said. “Three months have passed – the police waited until the cameras were automatically wiped [after this period]. So now there’s no evidence,” said Maria.
“Most likely, there was a blow to the head, I suppose. The next scene [that] I remember is me asking for help from a passing car, which had already stopped and called an ambulance and the police.” She had fled wearing only a hotel robe.
She said: “I think that maybe I was thrown. Or it was a beating. One of two options, the injuries looked like either a beating or a fall.” The men accused by Maria were both detained by police in Dubai but only for one day, said the report.
It added: “They now claim in their testimonies that they tried to find and help Maria and that she had asked to come to the party herself.” There appear to be no charges against them. “The next day the case was closed, they were released. And the case was closed,” said Maria’s mother.
“The [Dubai] police investigation indicated that Maria said that she was running away from sexual violence and then went to protect her honour, her dignity, decided to commit suicide,” she said. The mother claimed the statement was “falsified”, adding that Maria wasn’t trying to take her own life and saying she was not intoxicated. Medical tests also showed she had no alcohol in her blood, said her mother.