(20 Mar 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chernihiv region, Ukraine – 19 March 2025
1. Wide of bus carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war
2. Close up of Aliona Skuibida waiting for her fiance Andrii Orel with a birthday cake
3. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Aliona Skuibida, fiance of Ukrainian prisoner of war: ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON SHOT1 AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 2&4++
"From March 17 to 18, I did a post on social media in which I wrote to him, ‘I’m sorry it’s already your fourth birthday in captivity,’ but now his fourth birthday will be at home."
4. Wide of Ukrainian prisoners of war walking out of the bus
5. Wide of Skuibida hugging her fiance
6. Wide of Orel blowing out the candles on his birthday cake
7. Wide of Ukrainian POWs standing near the bus with their brigade flag
8. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Aliona Skuibida, fiance of Ukrainian prisoner of war: ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON SHOT 5 AND IS OVERLIAD BY SHOT 6-7& PARTIALLY BY SHOT9++
‘"Captivity is not an option to save lives. Unfortunately, we have cases when guys return from captivity tortured. We cannot forget for a single moment that we need to fight for them. I always say that covering this in the media, supporting it, it works. Keeping this wave that our guys are in captivity, that they need to be saved."
9. Various of Ukrainian POWs
10. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Ihor Chabanenko, Ukrainian soldier: ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 11++
"We are home, happy, in our native Ukraine, on our land. We have gone through a very difficult path, I hope that all the guys will return home soon."
11. Various of Ukrainian POWs
12. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Ihor Chabanenko, Ukrainian soldier: ++SOUNDBITE START ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID PARTIALLY BY SHOT13++
"I want to see my wife, my family, especially my daughter Anya, she is my most important goal in life. I want to see my beloved wife, who has been waiting for me and is waiting for me at home."
13. Various of soldiers posing for a photo with their brigade flag
UPSOUND (Ukrainian): "Ukraine is above all! Ukraine is above all! Ukraine is above all!"
STORYLINE:
Russia and Ukraine swapped 175 prisoners Wednesday, in one of the largest exchanges of the war.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for an “all-for-all” prisoner exchange with Russia, amid ongoing discussions about a possible temporary ceasefire.
Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that releasing all prisoners of war and captured civilians would be an important step toward peace and could help build trust between the two countries.
Shortly after the exchange took place at the border, dozens of family members gathered at a hospital in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, anxiously awaiting their loved ones’ arrivals.
Among them was 28-year-old Aliona Skuibida, who brought blue and yellow balloons and a cake with caramel filling — not only to celebrate her fiancé’s return, but also his 27th birthday, which was the previous day.
Andrii Orel was captured in April 2022 during the battle for Mariupol, which eventually fell to Russian forces.
Just before his capture, he wrote to his fiancé from the battlefield, promising they would marry as soon as he returned home.
But their wedding never happened.
Instead, throughout his captivity, Aliona Skuibida, a member of the Marine Corps Strength Association, fought tirelessly to bring attention to her fiancé’s ordeal.
“Captivity is not a way to survive,” she said, adding that many soldiers return bearing signs of torture.
As several buses pulled into the hospital grounds, thin and visibly exhausted soldiers stepped out.
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