On 25 June 2024, another 90 Ukrainians returned home from Russian captivity: 32 National Guard members, 18 border guards, 17 servicemembers of the Navy, 15 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and 8 Territorial Defense fighters. Among them were 59 defenders of Mariupol, 52 of whom had left Azovstal. Five National Guard fighters who had been guarding the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant at the start of the invasion also set foot on their native land.
PPhotographs by Vlada and Kostiantyn Liberov have spread across Ukrainian and international media. The documentary photographers captured the condition in which Ukrainian servicemembers returned from captivity.
“The guys kissed the ground and cried when they heard their native language. And we were happy to be there with them in that moment,” the photographers commented briefly.
After meeting them at the border, Kostia and Vlada went to the hospital, where doctors examined the servicemembers before they were sent on for further rehabilitation.
“Hungry. Exhausted. Happy. On 25 June, Ukraine brought home another 90 prisoners of war,” the Liberovs wrote. — “As last time, we cannot and will not comment on anything. These photographs speak for themselves. Russian captivity kills, and every return of our people home is enormous joy with a taste of great pain. Because thousands of Ukrainian defenders—women and men—as well as civilians, are still there, in the clutches of Russia’s fascist regime.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked all partners who are helping secure the release of these prisoners of war.
“Home is not just words. Home is Ukraine. We remember all our people in Russian captivity. We continue working to free each and every one. We are seeking the truth about everyone the enemy may be holding. I thank our team working on the exchanges: Budanov, Yermak, Maliuk, Klymenko, Lubinets. And all partners who are helping—especially the UAE for facilitating the release of our people. Together, we can achieve even the most difficult results,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.
In total, 3,300 Ukrainians have been brought back so far. This was the 53rd prisoner-of-war exchange since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“In the future, we will monitor the observance of the rights of returnees, in particular regarding medical examination, rehabilitation, receipt of the necessary documents, bank cards,” the Ombudsman noted Dmytro Lubinets. He also addressed the “Going forward, we will monitor whether the rights of those who have returned are upheld—particularly with regard to medical examinations, rehabilitation, and obtaining the necessary documents and bank cards,” Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets noted. He also addressed families who are still waiting for their loved ones to return from captivity: “Do not lose faith! Ukraine is working to bring all our citizens back home!”
This material was produced with the support of The Fritt Ord Foundation.
Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov are a married couple of photographers from Odesa. They began their journey by focusing on creative and emotional love stories. Within a few years, they became among the most recognizable photographers in the field and moved into active teaching, with thousands of grateful students around the world.
At the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, they shifted their work toward artistic documentary photography: their images from Ukraine’s hot spots go viral on social media, gaining hundreds of thousands of reposts; they are published by influential outlets such as BBC, Welt, Vogue, and Forbes, and are also shared on their social media by the President of Ukraine and other high-ranking officials.
Kostiantyn and Vlada’s goal is to ensure that as many people as possible learn the truth about the war in Ukraine. For them, photography is the meaning of life and an opportunity to multiply harmony in the world.
Social media of the photographers.
Worked on the piece:
Topic researcher, author: Vira Labych
Literary editor: Yuliia Futei
Photo editor: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
