'Spine broken, limbs crushed, left in coma': Ukrainian model alleges brutal assault by 'rich Russian kids' in Dubai

Ukrainian model Maria Kovalchuk alleges brutal assault by 'rich Russian kids' in Dubai

What began as a glitzy night at a luxury hotel in Dubai turned into a horrifying ordeal for 20-year-old Ukrainian model Maria Kovalchuk – one that left her in a coma, with a shattered spine, broken limbs and emotional scars that may never heal.

In a harrowing account aired earlier this week, Maria opened up publicly for the first time about the violence she endured at the hands of a group of Russian and Ukrainian “rich kids” during what was supposed to be a party at the upscale Five Jumeirah Village hotel.

According to Maria, what started as a missed flight quickly spiralled into a nightmare. She had travelled to Dubai to shoot content for her OnlyFans account, but after oversleeping and missing a connection to Thailand, she accepted an offer from a 19-year-old man she had met at a karaoke bar. The man said his father could arrange a private jet and invited her to a party in his hotel suite.

Instead of hospitality, Maria says she was met with humiliation and aggression.

“They started making fun of me like ‘you belong to us, we will do whatever we want’,” she told Russian outlet Ria Novosti. “I tried to take it as a joke, because it was really weird.”

The situation quickly deteriorated. She recalled how the men smashed bottles, scattering broken glass across the floor.

“That is, the entire floor was strewn with broken glass, that is, it was impossible to walk there,” she said.

Maria alleges that her passport was taken, and that another woman at the party slapped her before leaving — in Maria’s own clothes.

She claims the men then began making sexual advances. “I did not reciprocate, and this aggression was also heating them up,” she told Ria Novosti.

Fearing for her safety, she ran from the hotel and hid in an unfinished construction site.

“I ran away … I ran to the nearest building, just scared, and ran in, hid there. It was just an unfinished building, open,” she recalled.

What happened next remains murky, but Maria believes she was either beaten or thrown from a height.

“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,” she said in an interview with the Daily Mail.

She was found bloodied, barely conscious, and wearing only a bathrobe by a passerby who called for help. Rushed to a hospital, Maria remained in a coma for several days. When she woke up, she was unable to walk and had to undergo multiple surgeries.

“They found themselves a pet” Maria’s mother, Anna, speaking to the Daily Mail, described the alleged perpetrators as young men drunk on money and power.

“When young men have money, they feel they have no boundaries,” she said. “They found themselves a pet, someone they could torment. Just to trigger her, watch her suffer, see her fear, almost as entertainment. And then at some point, it crossed a line. That’s the turning point: they went too far.”

The two men Maria named were reportedly detained by police, but only for a single day, before being released due to what authorities claimed was “lack of evidence”.

Maria now accuses Dubai authorities of mishandling the case and withholding vital evidence.

“Three months have passed, the police waited until the cameras were automatically wiped [after this period],” she told Ria Novosti. “Now there is no evidence.”

She further alleges that her statement was twisted by police, who filed it as a suicide attempt.

“She was running away to protect her honour, her dignity, and then decided to commit suicide, that’s what the police claimed,” her mother told the Daily Mail.

“However, she said this was not true at all, and nor was she intoxicated according to medical tests.”

Cover-up claims and media silence

Anna also said that Dubai authorities paid for Maria’s hospital expenses, which she described as “millions.”

“I don’t know how much they paid -- the sum was colossal, millions,” she added.

Russian outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti reported that in exchange for the coverage of medical expenses, Maria was allegedly asked to remain silent to avoid tarnishing the reputation of Dubai’s authorities.

Maria has also denied disturbing online rumours that she attended what is known as a “Porta Potty” party — a term for alleged high-end sex parties involving wealthy men and exploitative behaviour.

Meanwhile, the National Police of Ukraine have launched a case into the incident through their main investigation department in Lviv, according to the Daily Mail.

Maria is now recovering in Norway, where her mother lives, but remains wheelchair-bound and uncertain whether she will ever walk again.