In a powerful display of national solidarity, communities in northern Ukraine’s Chernigiv region maintain a solemn vigil along border roads to welcome soldiers returning from Russian captivity. This emotional tradition, born from the ashes of occupation, has evolved into a coordinated effort where civilians use social media to track prisoner swap convoys and alert towns along the route.
The scene at a recent exchange was particularly poignant: Larysa Gladka, a 50-year-old widow whose husband fell in combat and whose son currently serves, stood alongside neighbors scanning the horizon with binoculars. When the convoy finally appeared, ambulance sirens pierced the air as buses carrying emaciated prisoners with shaved heads and visible wounds approached. Gladka described the overwhelming emotions: “You rejoice and cry, and you tremble inside from the emotion—seeing those eyes that are both sad and joyful and filled with tears.”
Prisoner exchanges represent one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv amid the ongoing conflict. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has secured the return of over 8,000 POWs alongside the remains of more than 17,000 fallen soldiers through these carefully negotiated swaps.
For the returnees, many detained for years under reported conditions of ill-treatment and torture, the roadside receptions provide a crucial psychological counterpoint to Russian claims that nobody awaits their homecoming. Yaroslav Rumyantsev, freed after 39 months in captivity, characterized the experience as “a second birthday” that brought tears and goosebumps.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War continues working toward further exchanges, though the timing remains uncertain following the derailment of US-mediated negotiations due to conflicts in the Middle East. Despite the challenges, Chernigiv residents remain committed to their self-imposed duty. As local council employee Anna Kondratenko stated: “Until the end—until everyone is exchanged. We will wait for each one. We will wait for all our guys.”