For three and a half years, Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Khyliuk endured beatings, hunger, and uncertainty in Russian custody — without ever being charged with a crime. Now, following a rare prisoner swap, he is free.
Khyliuk, who was seized in February 2022 during Russia’s initial assault on Kyiv, was among eight Ukrainian civilians unexpectedly included in an exchange last month that freed 146 Ukrainians in total. Most were soldiers, emaciated after years in detention, but Khyliuk’s release stood out: Russia rarely returns civilians.
“When they dragged us away, they beat us with rubber batons, shouting, ‘How many people have you killed?’” he recalled from a hospital in Kyiv, still recovering from the ordeal. “Sometimes they let the guard dog loose on us. I was bitten, bleeding, and too stressed to even feel the pain at first.”
Khyliuk was held at multiple facilities in Russia, never told what he was accused of, and never brought to trial. His testimony matches reports from many other Ukrainian detainees about systematic mistreatment, intimidation, and physical abuse behind bars.
The journalist has spent his first days of freedom catching up on all he has missed — and reaching out to the families of fellow detainees he met in captivity. He memorised their names and stories, determined to be a lifeline of information. “For some families, my call is the first proof their loved one is alive,” he said.
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His return was celebrated with crowds waving Ukrainian flags and cheering as buses carried the freed men back across the border. His first call after stepping off was to his elderly mother, telling her he was finally home. “The hardest part,” he admitted, “was not knowing if I’d ever see my parents again.”
Back in his village of Kozarovychi, near Kyiv, the scars of war remain. The walls of his family home are pockmarked with shrapnel, and the lawn still bears traces of Russian tanks that once occupied it. But for Khyliuk, the ability to walk free, see his parents, and tell his story is proof that even after years of silence, voices cannot be erased.
