Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Khyliuk has been released as part of a prisoner exchange.

UNIAN journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, who was abducted by Russian troops in the Kyiv region in March 2022, has returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange. This was announced by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners on a “146 for 146” basis. “Today, our people are returning home. Soldiers of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Service, and civilians. Most of them had been held in captivity since 2022,” Zelensky wrote.

In addition to Khyliuk, several other Ukrainian civilians who had been held in Russian captivity have also returned home: among them, former mayor of Kherson Volodymyr Mykolayenko and a journalist from Melitopol, Mark Kaliyush.

• On 3 March 2022, Dmytro Khyliuk and his father Vasyl were detained by Russian troops who had occupied the village of Kozarovychi in the Kyiv region, where the family’s home is located. Vasyl Khyliuk was later released, while his son was taken away in an unknown direction. The first confirmations that Dmytro Khyliuk was being held in Russian places of detention began to appear in 2023. In May 2023, he was transferred to a penal colony in Vladimir Oblast (east of Moscow). In November 2024, people released as part of exchanges reported that the journalist was still being held in this facility.
• In March 2024, the Russian Ministry of Defence officially acknowledged that Khyliuk was being held in Russia. “Graty” reported that the document did not specify his exact whereabouts or status but listed Geneva Convention articles on the treatment of prisoners of war. However, Khyliuk was not a member of the military.
• In July 2024, “Reporters Without Borders” wrote that they had spoken to a freed prisoner who was held in detention with Khyliuk. “He explains how, in the depths of winter, when it was minus ten degrees Celsius, he and his fellow prisoners were forced to walk naked in the prison yard. During roll call, prison guards or security service staff (FSB) would often set dogs on the detainees. They were regularly forced to sing the Russian national anthem or were deprived of food,” the report states. The “Reporters Without Borders” source said that Khyliuk weighs no more than 45 kg.