Ukraine returns 95 soldiers from Russian captivity, including human rights activist Butkevych and "Azovstal" defenders
Photo: Telegram / Zelensky / Official
On October 18, 95 Ukrainian soldiers, including defenders of "Azovstal" and renowned human rights activist Maksym Butkevych, returned to their homeland after being held captive in Russia. This marks the 58th exchange of prisoners of war in Ukraine's "95 for 95" format.
Initially, the Human Rights Center ZMINA, co-founded by Maksym Butkevych, announced the human rights defender's release from captivity on Friday, October 18. This news quickly received official confirmation in the evening when Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky published a statement about the successful exchange.
As the head of state noted, 95 Ukrainians returned home. Soldiers who defended Mariupol and "Azovstal," Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions were among them.
Photo: Telegram / Zelensky / Official
Photo: Telegram / Zelensky / Official
"Every time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we move closer to the day when freedom will be returned to all who are in Russian captivity.
I would like to extend my thanks to the search and rescue team for their efforts in bringing back our citizens whom Russia is holding. I am grateful for the soldiers who are contributing to the exchange fund and our partners who are providing assistance," Zelensky wrote.
The President also released a video of a meeting of freed Ukrainian soldiers.
In turn, the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War also announced that it had conducted the 58th exchange of prisoners of war.
Photo: Telegram / Zelensky / Official
Photo: Telegram / Zelensky / Official
The headquarters said that the peculiarity of this exchange was that among the released defenders, there were soldiers who received the so-called "sentences" of the judicial system of the aggressor country of Russia. Among the released prisoners were "convicted":
- 28 – to long terms,
- and 20 – to life imprisonment.
The Angels Patronage Service added that they are deeply grateful for the help and comprehensive support in organizing the exchange to the United Arab Emirates.
Photo: Telegram / Zelensky / Official
Photo: Telegram / Zelensky / Official
They specified that those released from captivity were national guardsmen, military sailors, soldiers of Ukraine's armed forces, border guards, and representatives of other Security and Defense Forces units.
Among those dismissed are 69 soldiers and sergeants and 26 officers.
Photo: Telegram / Zelensky / Official
"Many of our released soldiers have serious illnesses and the effects of severe injuries, as well as great weight loss due to torture and insufficient nutrition," the service emphasized.
Photo: Telegram / Angels Patronage Service
The release of Maksym Butkevych, a well-known human rights defender sentenced to 13 years in a high-security prison by a Russian court, also took a special place in this exchange.
According to the father of the human rights defender, Oleksandr Butkevych, he received a call from the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. He was informed that his son had been exchanged and was now in the territory of Ukraine.
"Such a happiness! Our colleague and human rights advocate, Maksym Butkevych, has been released from Russian captivity! He has safely returned to free Ukraine. Maksym, we can't wait to see you at home," Tetiana Pechonchyk, the head of the ZMINA Center for Human Rights board, wrote on Facebook.
For reference:
Maksym Butkevych is a well-known Ukrainian journalist and human rights defender who has devoted more than 20 years to protecting human rights. Co-founder of "Hromadske Radio" and the ZMINA Human Rights Center, he was also a member of the Ukrainian Center of Amnesty International board.
Photo: Stas Yurchenko
Throughout his career, Maksym vigorously advocated for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners, including Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko, from Russian imprisonment.
In March 2022, Butkevych joined the ranks of Ukraine's armed forces and went to defend his country on the Eastern Front. In June of the same year, he was captured by the Russians during hostilities.
In March 2023, Butkevych was sentenced to 13 years in prison in occupied Luhansk. The occupiers attributed to him "cruel treatment of the civilian population and the use of prohibited methods in the armed conflict." In addition, the Ukrainian human rights defender was charged with "attempted murder of two people and intentional damage to someone else's property." In August, the appeals court in Moscow left the verdict unchanged.
There was no information about Maksym Butkevych's whereabouts for a long time. Only on December 6, 2023, lawyer Leonid Solovyov reported that the human rights defender was being held in a colony in the city of Khrustalnyi in the temporarily occupied Luhansk region.
It is worth noting that Russian invaders captured Maksym Butkevych near the Zolote and Hirske settlements in the Luhansk region, which they had temporarily seized. The interrogation video of Butkevych was widely shared on social media through Russian propaganda publications. His family learned of the incident through these propaganda videos. Subsequently, Butkevych was sentenced to prison by the "supreme courts" in the temporarily occupied Luhansk.
It should be added that the previous exchange took place on September 14, as a result of which 103 Ukrainian soldiers who were in Russian captivity returned home.
