They were held in prison camps and colonies in Siberia and Mordova, They didn't know what was coming next. They were utilized to transporting from prison to prison, and they heard about the exchange 24 hours earlier. Some have spent 3 years in captivity.
"I didn't believe I was truly going on a trade, they promised me so many times"; "I understood only erstwhile I saw the Ukrainian flag. I kissed the earth, I am yet home."I thought everyone had forgotten me, and yet individual remembered me.“ They said the first moments after getting out of Russia.
Skinny, exhausted, with grey faces, shaved heads and in prison denims, they left the buses shouting “Glory of Ukraine!”. Soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard, Border Service, heroic defenders of Mariupola. 175 men – scared, shocked, secretly wiping tears.
Singing Russian anthem, chill, moisture and ticks
– I was imprisoned in the Luhan region. I was there 3 years and 1 month. We were 1 of the first prisoners. They beat the hell out of us. I was born again today. I've already spoken to my parent and son. I went to war so my boy wouldn't go to school. But I'll heal and go again – said about 50-year-old Bohdan, who comes from Sokala close the border with Poland.
Kostiantin was captured by the Russians on May 8, 2022. He was besides on the front line in the Luhansk region. – 34 months without any contact with the family. I was certain they forgot about me. There's only negative thoughts. But people remembered, and present I'm home. And I see that nobody gives up, everyone fights and believes in victory," he said.
He was held in a penal colony in the Russian-occupied Lugansk Oblast, in custody in Lugansk and Kemerov in the south of Siberia. - In captivity, like in captivity. alternatively of eating, water. In the morning, the anthem of Russia, which we all had to sing. If individual didn't sing, they beat. Forced jobs for 2 cigarettes a day, or more food. No global organizations are allowed. No contact with loved ones - He did.
SEE: 175 prisoners of war returned to Ukraine. “This is 1 of the biggest exchanges”
Anastasia's daughter was waiting for Alexander, a Marine who fought at Azowstal in Mariupolu. Fighting to get her father back, she founded an organization of POW families called the Marine Force. A tall, black-haired girl held his hand with a arrogant grin on her face.
– I kept believing I'd make the trade. Now I want peace. Wash, lay in clean sheets. Eating Ukrainian borscht with garlic and fat, due to the fact that this cabbage, (soup) is happy, came out to my side. And to make them come home sooner those boys who are inactive being tortured there," he said.
Alexander sat in a camp in Mordow, where inhuman conditions prevailed. – Cold, moisture and ticks. It was so wet, frogs jumped in the cell. Before fresh Year – erstwhile in 2 years and 10 months – they gave us 10 peasants, Two cans of concentrated milk, 2 packs of candy and 2 boxes of cookies. And the civilian pants. We sang the Russian anthem 10 times a day. Whoever did not sing – was beaten – reported.
“Hungry, tortured”
The exchange of prisoners with Russia is carried out by the Coordination Staff, which operates in the structures of Ukrainian military intelligence HUR. Staff spokesperson Petro Jacenko said that the exchange that took place on Wednesday was 1 of the largest so far. 175 soldiers returned to their homeland. That's what the opposing organization got back. In addition, Russia has “give back” Ukraine 22 badly wounded and ill.
– The wellness of most of them is very bad. Many returned with tuberculosis. They're starved, tortured.Impaired from war wounds. Everyone needs a very long rehabilitation," stressed Jacenko.
Ukrainians and Russians exchange their prisoners across the border with Belarus. On 1 side and on the another side of the border there are buses from which prisoners are released, going in a row to their ‘side’. Journalists aren't allowed that far. This time they met the released only in the hospital, where they were brought for their first viewing. This is where they got their first meal and telephone calls to connect to their families.
SEE: They survived Russian captivity. Shocking relations of Ukrainian women
In addition to relatives who know that their fathers and husbands will be released in the party, those who do not have any information about their relatives are besides waiting for the exchange. They come with pictures of them, ask questions. Like Mrs. Ouch looking for her brother.
– I'm looking for my own brother. He went missing in May 2022. Nobody knows what happened to him, whether he's alive or killed. present I met 1 who said he might have seen him. He said a akin man was sitting with him in a camp in Kamyszyn. That's a lead. We should all go home. said the woman.
The erstwhile prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine took place in February. She took 150 people from each side.
According to the Military Prisoners Coordination Staff in Kiev, Ukraine has carried out a full-scale invasion of Russia since the beginning of the Russian invasion. 61 exchanges, thanks to which 4131 prisoners returned to their homeland. More than 7,000 bodies of military casualties were besides recovered. These data do not include the exchange held on Wednesday.
dk/ sgo / PAP/Polsatnews.pl
