AMVROSIIVKA, Ukraine (Reuters) – Fighters affiliated with the Russian-installed administration of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region arrived within the town of Amvrosiivka on Sunday after being freed in a prisoner swap with the Ukrainian military.
“I still cannot consider I’m home,” returning prisoner of war (POW) Maxim Chekanov told Reuters.
“It was so horrible, I would not wish it on anyone,” added Chekanov, who said he had been captured by Ukrainian forces on Oct. 11.
The fighters were freed during a prisoner exchange on Nov. 3, with the 2 sides within the eight-month-old conflict releasing 107 captives each.
Prisoner exchanges have been an everyday occurrence in the course of the conflict, with each military personnel and high-ranking politicians released within the swaps.
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In Amvrosiivka, a town of 18,000 people near the internationally-recognised border with Russia, Denis Pushilin, head of the region’s Russian-installed administration, greeted the returning fighters.
A few of the men wept as they were reunited with tearful relations.
One woman, Lyudmila, said her returning son, Yevgeny, had lost quite a lot of weight since she last saw him. He walked slowly beside her, leaning on a walking stick.
“I didn’t recognise him,” she said through tears as they sat next to one another, asking not to offer their full names.
“Every little thing will probably be okay, sweetie,” she told Yevgeny, who clutched a handkerchief to his face.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Helen Popper)
Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.
