Families and volunteers in northern Ukraine greet freed POWs with tears and flags, vowing to wait for every soldier’s return from Russian captivity

CHERNIGIV REGION: Larysa Gladka stood among hundreds lining the road to Ukraine’s northern border, flags in hand and eyes fixed on the horizon.

Her Chernigiv region, once occupied, is now the gateway for freed Ukrainian prisoners of war returning home.

“You rejoice and cry, and you tremble inside from the emotion — seeing those eyes that are both sad and joyful and filled with tears,” the 50-year-old told AFP.

Her husband was killed fighting Russian troops and her son serves in the army.

After an agonising wait, a column of vehicles finally came into view with ambulance sirens blaring and bus horns wailing.

Emaciated faces peered from the windows of the newly freed prisoners, their heads shaved and wounds visible.

The crowd stood with tears in their eyes, waving hands and gripping giant Ukrainian flags.

Prisoner swaps are one of the only areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Kyiv says more than 8,000 POWs have been returned, along with the bodies of more than 17,000 dead soldiers.

The tradition of welcoming returnees started with a small group of five or six people.

It has since grown into a network with dedicated social media groups tracking the buses from the Belarus border where swaps occur.

“It’s a sign of gratitude, to thank the guys for protecting us, and so that they know that we are waiting for them,” said Anna Kondratenko, a 33-year-old local council employee.

Her brother-in-law was released after more than two years in Russian detention.

The latest exchange of 500 Ukrainian for 500 Russian soldiers took place over two days in March through US-mediated talks.

Those negotiations are now derailed by the war in the Middle East, leaving the timing for the next release unclear.

Driver Andriy, 53, is one of the first Ukrainian faces many freed soldiers see as they board his bus.

“The guys are surprised that they are being welcomed like this,” he told AFP.

Yaroslav Rumyantsev, released after 39 months in captivity, described it as “like a second birthday.”

Many soldiers report ill-treatment or torture while detained and are told nobody awaits them back home.

Bogdan Okhrimenko works with the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War that facilitates the swaps.

“As soon as we have achieved results in the negotiations, we are ready to carry out the next planned exchange,” he told AFP.

The war has displaced millions, killed thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, devastating eastern and southern Ukraine.

Both sides claim to capture dozens more soldiers daily.

With no end to the fighting in sight, locals in Chernigiv vow to keep flocking to the roadside.

“Until the end — until everyone is exchanged. We will wait for each one. We will wait for all our guys,” Kondratenko said.

Fifty-year-old Anatoliy Devitsky was more direct, stating they would continue “until every last Russkiy is taken out and peace comes.”

 The Sun Malaysia