Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war and among those released is also a US citizen who has been in captivity since June, writes the BBC.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Ukraine got back 64 persons who were captured by Russia – four officers and 60 soldiers. Zelensky’s adviser noted in a Twitter post that US citizen Suedi Murekezi was among those released. White House spokesman John Kirby declined to confirm the information, citing personal privacy concerns. However, he noted that such news is always welcome.
Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, informed that the released soldiers fought in Donetsk and Luhansk. In a social media post, Yermak said that
Murekezi, a US Air Force veteran, helped the Ukrainians before being captured by the Russians. Russian media outlet Tass had reported that Murekezi was captured in June in the Donetsk region and charged with anti–Russian protests and inciting ethnic hatred.
Murekezi told ABC News that he spent several weeks in a basement torture chamber where he was tortured with electric shocks and regularly beaten. The Russians allegedly accused him of cooperating with the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Murekezi came to Ukraine in 2018, but before that, he lived in Minnesota and served in the US Air Force for eight years until 2017. Murekezi was captured by Russia along with two other Americans who fought Ukrainian forces’ side. These soldiers were released in September in a prisoner-of-war exchange overseen by Saudi Arabia.
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