95 of our people are home again: Azov soldiers and human rights defender Butkevych released from Russian captivity. Photo and video

95 Ukrainian soldiers have returned home from Russian captivity. Among them are Azov soldiers and human rights activist Maksym Butkevych.

First, the release of the human rights activist was reported by the ZMINA Human Rights Center, co-founded by Maksym Butkevych, on Friday, October 18. And late in the evening, there was an official confirmation of the exchange of prisoners in the 95-for-95 format from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"95 of our people are home again. The soldiers who defended Mariupol and Azovstal, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions.

Every time Ukraine releases its people from Russian captivity, we bring the day when freedom will be restored to all those in Russian captivity closer.

I am grateful to the team that is engaged in the search and release of prisoners. We are doing our best to get all our people held by Russia out. I am grateful to the soldiers who replenish the exchange fund and to all partners who help," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

The Head of State also posted a video of the touching reunion.

"95 of our people are home. They returned to their families. These are the soldiers who defended Mariupol and Azovstal, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kherson regions. We thank the entire team, we are grateful to the soldiers, we have to return everyone," Andrii Yermak, head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine, wrote on Telegram.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (KSHPPV) reported that it is the 58th exchange.

"As a result of the work of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on behalf of the President of Ukraine, another 95 Ukrainian defenders were released from enemy captivity today," the statement said.

The headquarters said that the peculiarity of this exchange is that many Ukrainians who received the so-called "sentences" in Russia returned home. Among the released prisoners, 28 were "sentenced" to long terms, and 20 to life imprisonment.

The ZMINA Human Rights Center also reported on the release of human rights activist Maksym Butkevych, who was "sentenced" to 13 years in a strict regime colony, from captivity.

According to the human rights activist's father, Oleksandr Butkevych, he received a call from the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and was informed that his son had been exchanged and was now on the territory of Ukraine.

"So happy to hear that!!! Human rights activist and our colleague Maksym Butkevych was released from Russian captivity! He is already on the territory of free Ukraine. Maksym, we are waiting for you at home," Tetyana Pechonchyk, head of the board of the ZMINA Human Rights Center, wrote on Facebook.

Who is Maksym Butkevych?

Maksym Butkevych is a journalist and human rights activist who has been involved in human rights activities for over 20 years. He is a co-founder of Hromadske Radio, founder of the ZMINA Human Rights Center, and a member of the board of Amnesty International Ukraine.

Butkevych was an activist in the campaign for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners from Russia, including Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko.

In March 2022, Maksym Butkevych joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and fought in the east of the country. However, in June of the same year, he was taken prisoner by Russian soldiers.

Butkevych was sentenced to 13 years in prison in occupied Luhansk in March 2023. He was accused of "ill-treatment of civilians and the use of prohibited methods in armed conflict." In addition, the Ukrainian human rights activist was charged with "attempted murder of two people and intentional damage to another's property". In August, the Moscow Court upheld the verdict.

It was not known where Butkevych was for a long time. However, on December 6, 2023, lawyer Leonid Solovyov reported that the activist was in a colony in the city of Khrustalnyi (formerly Krasnyi Luch) in the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk region.

As reported earlier, Russian invaders captured Maksym Butkevych near the settlements of Zolote and Hirske in Luhansk region, which they temporarily occupied. The video of Butkevych's interrogation appeared in various Russian propaganda media. His family learned about the incident from them.

The trial of Maksym Butkevych was held in the temporarily occupied Luhansk. A pseudo-court of the LPR terrorist group "sentenced" the Ukrainian to 13 years in a maximum security colony.

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