You're reading: Two Ukrainian hostages released from captivity in occupied Donbas

Ukrainian hostages Volodymyr Zhemchugov and Yuriy Suprun were released from captivity by Russian-led separatists in the war-torn Donbas on Sept. 17.

President Petro Poroshenko, who announced the move during a Sept. 16 speech at the 13th annual Yalta European Strategy in Kyiv, said on his Facebook page after the release that “they will receive all required medical help.”

For Zhemchugov, 45, who was arrested in September 2015, rehabilitation is essential, according to Presidential envoy for Donbas and lawmaker Iryna Geraschenko.

Zhemchugov was injured after a trip wire mine went off – his arms were amputated, and he was rendered blind. Kremlin-backed separatists accused him of subversive activities.

According to Gerashchenko, pro-Russian separatists had promised to release him earlier, but have been postponing the exchange for about a year.

Suprun is a former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine, commonly known as the SBU. He was captured last April. He also has diplomatic immunity as the representative of the UN mission.

He was accused of being involved in punitive operations by the Kyiv authorities against the people from the Donetsk region of occupied Donbas.

Zhemchugov and Suprun were exchanged for four “traitors,” arrested by the SBU, Gerashchenko said.

Yuriy Tandit, negotiator of the center for assisting the release of hostages of the SBU, said in a Facebook post after the release that “we are doing everything possible for our heroes, who stay in captivity, to come back to their families, who fight for them every day.”

Gerashchenko said on Sept. 14 that at least 112 Ukrainians, military and civilians, remain in captivity in the Donbas.