“These people are unbreakable!”

Those present at the prisoner exchange witnessed manifestations of opposing human qualities – noble-mindedness and meanness. Let us tell everything in chronological order, though.

Volodymyr Zhemchuhov and UN employee Yurii Suprun were released from captivity they had been held in by militants of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) on September 17. Near the town of Shchastia, Luhansk oblast, they were exchanged for supporters of the LNR and so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, previously detained by the Security Service of Ukraine. Suprun was captured on April 12 this year, while Zhemchuhov was taken prisoner in September 2015. The latter, born in the city of Krasny Luch (now Khrustalny) in Luhansk region, hit a booby trap before being captured, causing him to lose both arms, and then vision as well. An attempt to exchange him was made last November, but it ultimately failed. Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Herashchenko subsequently posted on Facebook that had Zhemchuhov been extracted from captivity earlier, his vision could have been saved.

The journalists who filmed the exchange included photographer, winner of the Golden Day Prize of Prizes of our past year’s photo competition Oleksandr Klymenko. The journalist has long been filming the war in the Donbas, but he witnessed such an event for the first time. “I have mixed feelings about it, since it was a tragic and joyful event,” Klymenko admitted. “The former prisoners themselves behaved very bravely. These people are unbreakable, they have strong spirits! Zhemchuhov said later that a prisoner could endure everything, including torments and hunger. The main thing was to know that your country remembered you, that people were fighting for your release.”

So, where did the meanness enter into it? The exchange was attended by stringer Graham Phillips, who is known as a Kremlin propagandist. He swore at Ukrainian journalists and insulted Zhemchuhov. “It was disgusting. Our cameramen were just filming, nobody said anything in reply. When his screams grew too loud, he was pulled back by Olha Kobtseva, the LNR’s official dealing with prisoner exchanges,” Klymenko recalled. Phillips asked Zhemchuhov who needed him now he was an amputee. The Ukrainian responded to this provocation in a very dignified manner: “I am a patriot. My country needs me. Ukraine does not abandon its citizens.”

On his release, Zhemchuhov was met by his wife Olena. Klymenko spoke with her before the exchange. “She is a very nice and strong-willed woman, she loves her husband strongly, he is everything for her. It is evident that these people love each other,” the photographer shared his impressions.

The freed prisoners were soon taken to Kyiv. At the hospital, they were met by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. “I would like the whole world to hear it: we do not abandon our citizens,” the head of state repeated these words now.

Also at the hospital, Zhemchuhov met his mother Olena. By the way of an interesting coincidence, Klymenko first met her a few days before her son’s release. “Relatives of our prisoners were then picketing the embassies of France and Germany. Zhemchuhov’s mother was among them, but I did not know about him then. I approached her, as well as Zhemchuhov’s wife who stood next to her, and they told me about their darling, I photographed them, and the photo went on to be published in Holos Ukrainy newspaper for which I work. And then, in a couple of days, I witnessed such an event, Zhemchuhov’s release!” the photographer recalled happily.

The two Ukrainians are finally at home, but dozens of people still need to be released. On the day of Zhemchuhov and Suprun’s return, Poroshenko reiterated his instruction for Ukrainian representatives in the trilateral contact group – namely, to keep working on releasing Ukrainians and “to ensure speedy return home of 45 hostages who we have located.”