TRANSCRIPT
A scene of intense emotion in Ukraine with cries - not of pain, but of jubilation - for freed prisoners of war reuniting with their families after weeks, months and - for some - close to three years.
In a prisoner swap deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine has secured the return of 189 of their soldiers, while 150 Russian captives are also heading home.
Fathers returned to their children, lovers reunited at last, and years of anxiety melting away in the long-awaited embrace between those who had been lost and those who had never lost faith in their return.
"I’m euphoric, I don’t really understand that I’m already free, although I've waited every minute, and my family waited. Honestly, I thought I would never be free, and so today is the second birthday of my life. From today everything will begin anew, everything from a new page. Unfortunately, Mariupol is lost, my hometown in which I lived for 40 years is no longer there, but my family remain alive."
It is a small mercy for the holiday season after a year of intense bloodshed in the Russia-Ukraine war.
The conflict has stretched on from what was supposed to be a fast-moving Russian invasion in February 2022 to an almost three-year gruelling tug-of-war between the two countries that has killed or wounded about a million people, according to a September estimate from The Wall Street Journal.
36-year-old Vasyl Neshcheret says he was guarding the Chernobyl nuclear plant when he was taken prisoner at the very beginning of the war in February 2022.
He can't believe he is free in his homeland once more and free of abuse from his Russian captors.
"I'm not planning to call anyone. The most important thing is that I am on my land, I saw my country's flag and my family. This is, this is just... the best, it's just amazing. After everything that happened to us in Russia, after what they did to us."
There have been ten exchanges of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine in 2024, and 59 exchanges overall since Russia's invasion.
The Ukrainian prisoners of war were welcomed home by this official.
"The team of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has worked to return you home. Many boys and girls have already returned before you but many still remain in Russian captivity. We will return all of them. Today we are happy to welcome you back home, in Ukraine."
And the 150 Russian prisoners of war have been freed into Belarusian territory and are now being transferred home to their loved ones.
In a video posted by Russia's Defence Ministry, freed captives are seen riding a bus home and calling their families.
"I will be home soon. How are the kids? How is mother?"
Another soldier thanked the Russian government for helping strike this deal in time for the new year.
"I am overwhelmed with emotions. I still can't fully believe that this has happened, that I am almost home. That our ministry is making every effort, that it remembers us, values us. The loved ones will be happy. We are very happy to get here, on this day, on the New Year's holiday."
