"Filtration" that lasted four years: the story of a Ukrainian man brought back from captivity

On the eve of Orthodox Easter, 182 Ukrainians were released from Russian captivity during a prisoner exchange. Among them were military personnel and seven civilians.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda. Zhyttia (Life)

Details: One of those released is 24-year-old Mykola Shcherbyna from Kherson Oblast, whom Russian forces captured in November 2022, the Media Initiative for Human Rights reported.

Mykola's mother Valentyna said she has since spoken with her son three times, including via a video call.

"His eyes, you know, looked confused. But he says everything is fine, he smiles," Valentyna noted.

She said that after the exchange, Mykola will first be placed in quarantine and will later undergo rehabilitation.

Before the start of the full-scale invasion, Mykola had been studying at a college and working for a trading company, the ZMINA Human Rights Centre reported. After the Russian forces advanced, his family found themselves under occupation.

Valentyna admitted she had been afraid to leave because her husband had taken part in defending the country during the Anti-Terrorist Operation. [The ATO or Anti-Terrorist Operation is a term used from 2014 to 2018 by the media, the government of Ukraine and the OSCE to identify combat actions in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts against Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists – ed.]. Later, Mykola moved to the left bank of Kherson Oblast.

On 14 November 2022, he and his friend Oleksandr were abducted from their home. With bags placed over their heads, they were taken to an unknown location. The Russians told the family that Mykola had supposedly been taken for "filtration" – a detention and screening procedure used by Russian forces in occupied areas to assess people – and would soon be released.

Later, Valentyna learned from Ukrainian soldiers released from captivity that her son was being held in a pre-trial detention centre in Volgograd Oblast on charges of "opposing the special military operation" [as the Russians refer to their unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine – ed.].

One of the Ukrainians who returned from captivity said that Mykola's legs had started to rot. When he asked for a doctor, he was beaten.

In September 2025, Valentyna, as a representative of the NGO Civilians in Captivity, travelled to see the Pope to ask for assistance in securing the release of Ukrainians.

Background:

• On 11 April, Ukraine and Russia carried out a prisoner exchange that secured the return of 175 military personnel, including defenders of Mariupol and the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, as well as seven civilians captured back in 2022.
• The youngest of those released is 22, and the oldest is 63. On the eve of Orthodox Easter, 25 officers whom Russia had previously refused to exchange also returned home.

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