Ukrainian journalist held in Russia for three and a half years released without charge

Dmytro Khyliuk, a Ukrainian journalist detained in the opening days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, has been released after three and a half years in Russian custody without ever being formally charged, his family and Ukrainian officials said.

Khyliuk was among 146 people who returned to Ukraine in a prisoner exchange that included eight civilians — a rare outcome in a conflict where civilian detainees are often not publicly acknowledged. Since his arrival back in Kyiv, he has been calling relatives and other Ukrainians he met in captivity to confirm their status and relay details he memorised while held.

Crowds greeted buses carrying freed Ukrainians last month with blue and yellow flags and honking horns as they passed through Kyiv. Most of those returned were military personnel, many with sunken cheeks and signs of severe weight loss. Ukrainian officials gave few specifics about the arrangement, saying only that the swap involved returning people “Russia was interested in” in exchange. One Ukrainian source said some of the exchanged individuals included residents of Russia’s Kursk region who were evacuated during Kyiv’s 2024 incursion; the current status of those returned to Russia was not disclosed.

Meeting Khyliuk at a Kyiv hospital where he was being assessed after his release, reporters recorded a chilling account of his captivity. He said he and others were seized as they checked damage in their village of Kozarovychi, near Kyiv, in the early days of the 2022 invasion. He described being dragged into detention, struck with rubber batons and shouted at as he was taken to Russia.

"They grabbed us and literally dragged us to the prison and on the way they beat us with rubber batons shouting things like, 'How many people have you killed?'" he said. He described guards letting dogs off their leashes to bite detainees and said he was bitten and left bleeding. Khyliuk also said he witnessed other prisoners, particularly soldiers, being subjected to electric shocks and severe beatings during interrogations. He said food was scarce, that he lost more than 20 kilograms in the first months and often felt dizzy.

Khyliuk said he managed to send one short note to his parents during his captivity: "I'm alive, I'm well. Everything's ok." He said he received only one other message to his family over the three-and-a-half years.

His parents, Halyna and Vasyl, live in Kozarovychi in a home still scarred by shrapnel and with a lawn damaged where Russian forces once parked a tank. Both elderly and in poor health, the couple were briefly detained when Russian troops occupied the area in 2022. Vasyl was later released; the family feared for months for Khyliuk's fate until the solitary note arrived.

More broadly, officials in Kyiv say more than 16,000 civilians are currently listed as missing after the Russian occupation of parts of Ukraine and subsequent transfers. Moscow does not publish lists of detainees, and detaining civilians without publicly stated charges complicates efforts to locate and negotiate their return.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, told reporters the government is constrained by international law. He compared dealing with Russia to "playing chess": Ukraine adheres to rules but risks exploitation if it detains Russian civilians to create leverage for swaps. "The very next day Russia would take thousands of civilians hostage in occupied areas, just to swap for its soldiers," Lubinets said, arguing that such a precedent would endanger more civilians.

There has been at least one previous exchange involving Ukrainian citizens who had been detained and sentenced in Ukraine on accusations of collaborating with Russian forces; those convicted individuals were reportedly swapped for Ukrainians held in Russia. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed whether similar exchanges have taken place since.

Families in Khyliuk’s home area continue to await information about relatives who were taken at the same time. Forty-three men from the Kozarovychi area remain in Moscow’s custody, officials said. One of them, Volodymyr Loburets, was detained alongside Khyliuk and moved to Russia. His wife, Vera, said the family is grateful for small mercies but bitter about the uncertainty.

"It's hard. It's really hard. We smile, yes, and thank goodness, I have a new grandson," Vera said, holding her infant. "But I had a husband — and now I don't." She said the government has told families it will not exchange relatives for Russian soldiers, leaving many to wait through a fourth year without certainty.

Khyliuk’s return has been emotionally raw for his family. His mother said she struggled to speak when he called to say he was free, and that she had a long list of chores for her only son once he recovered enough to come home. Khyliuk said the return to Ukraine also requires psychological adjustment: while familiar landmarks remain, he said, the country feels different and he was surprised by continuing bombardments of Kyiv from the skies.

Ukrainian authorities and rights groups continue to press for clearer information about those taken during Russian occupations and for mechanisms to secure civilian releases. The case of Khyliuk underscores both the rarity of civilian releases in large swaps and the broader humanitarian challenge Kyiv faces in accounting for thousands of missing civilians whose detention or fate remains undocumented.

Khyliuk’s rehabilitation is ongoing; he is expected to rejoin his family in Kozarovychi when medical staff deem him fit. Meanwhile, relatives of the many still detained say they will keep pressing Ukrainian authorities and international partners for answers and for ways to bring loved ones home.