On Thursday, Feb. 5, Ukraine and Russia completed a prisoner exchange, with 157 Ukrainian defenders returned home in exchange for 157 Russian servicemen. The swaps, paused for five months, have now resumed.
On the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, relatives braved a snowstorm for hours in the Chernihiv region, waiting to reunite with their loved ones.
Relatives of prisoners gathered at the exchange site, waiting for their loved ones to arrive. For some, like Ivan Roman, it was not the first time waiting at the exchange point. Often, the loved ones of POWs come to exchange points hoping that the newly released might have some news about the ones still gone – and to offer support to one another. Roman was there for the release of his son, a serviceman in the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade.
And finally, there was joyful news. He could no longer hold back his emotions.
Olha Kurtmallaeva, 26, was once again at the exchange site. She hadn’t seen her husband, Ruslan, in four years. Ruslan, a serviceman of the 501st Separate Marine Corps Battalion, had been in captivity since the spring 2022 battles for Mariupol. Kurtmallaeva came with friends, awaiting the moment they would finally reunite.
Then, suddenly, she received a message from the Diia government online service: “The defender is released.”
First, happiness on her face.
Then a phone call – from an unknown number. It was her husband, already released, calling first by phone, and then on video.
But for those who come and are not reunited with their loved ones, another exchange is still a chance to find an island of certainty amid a sea of despair.
They are not here for today’s exchange. Their loved ones are still missing or held captive.
They stand around with photographs of their loved ones and hope that those released from captivity will be able to recognize them.
The waiting drags on. Due to a snowstorm and heavy snowfall, buses carrying those released from captivity crawl several dozen kilometers for hours. But eventually, greeted with joyful applause, they arrive at the meeting point in the evening.
Because most of the released are stressed, lightly dressed, and have spent long hours on the road, they are given only a brief moment to hug their relatives before being taken straight to the hospital.
But hundreds of people continue to live in anxious anticipation, hoping they might be reunited with their loved ones in the next exchange. They linger outside hospital windows, watching and hoping that someone among the released will recognize the person they’re missing.