Ukrainian model reveals chilling final words she heard before being 'beaten into coma' after Dubai party
Maria Kovalchuk was found with horrific injuries, including severe head trauma and a broken spine and limbs, when she was discovered on a roadside in the Emirati city.
She spent weeks in the hospital in a coma before beginning the long road to recovery.
Earlier this week, the 20-year-old, who is now undergoing rehabilitation in Norway, broke her silence in a bombshell interview with Russian presenter and media personality Ksenia Sobchak.
She revealed that she was spending time with a group of acquaintances in a Dubai hotel room when two men who had invited her there became violent.
Moments before she fled the room in what would prove a futile escape attempt, the pair, who had allegedly been drinking heavily, smashing bottles and acting aggressively, made a horrifying statement, according to Maria.
'You belong to us. We'll do whatever we want.'
Maria was chased out of the hotel and ultimately found in her hiding spot in a nearby building that was under construction.
She does not remember the attack, but suspects she was brutally beaten or dropped from a height, given the nature of her injuries.
Speaking to Sobchak from her wheelchair, Maria explained how her horrific story began when she missed a flight from Dubai to Thailand after she overslept.
While checking out of her hotel, she bumped into a Russian man she had met at a karaoke bar once before.
After telling him about her situation, he invited her to stay in his room and told her they could fly to Thailand together in his private jet.
The man was accompanied by three friends - another man and two women.
'We went up to the room. The guys were half-sober, they had just come from a party. And overall, everything went well throughout the day. We talked, discussed our trip to Thailand.
'I even called my mum, said that everything was fine, the guys were normal. I called in their presence, to be on the safe side.
But things took dark turn the next day, when the men started to behave aggressively towards her, she says.
'They were drinking very strong alcohol, like whiskey. They started to tease me, like, why don't I drink.
'Then there were some aggressive pushes... ''You belong to us. We'll 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.
Maria explained that the horrific ordeal unfolded when she missed a flight from Dubai for Thailand after she overslept
She said that she bumped into a Russian man she had met at a karaoke bar once before and joined him and his friends before things took a dark turn
'After that, they took my personal belongings, which included my passport.'
Maria added that the men had 'hinted' that they wanted to have sex with her, which she did not reciprocate.
As things escalated, Maria tried to escape but said the men ultimately dragged her back into the room.
When they stepped out onto the balcony, she managed to flee and hid at a nearby construction site.
The men then found her and 'beat her', she said.
'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.'
Maria said she doesn't remember the violence itself that led to her injuries, and 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.
'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 briefly detained by police in Dubai- but only for one day.
There appear to be no charges against them.
Maria told her friends she had been invited to a party at a hotel on March 9, and promptly dropped out of contact with them.
Ten days later, it emerged she had been discovered a week prior, battered, bloodied and dumped at a roadside in Dubai with her limbs and spine broken.
Maria was rushed to hospital and underwent three surgeries to save her life, before later receiving a fourth procedure.
The model is now confined to a wheelchair but is slowly learning to walk again.
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