On March 6, during an exchange from Russian captivity, 300 Ukrainian servicemen and two civilians returned home. Among them is serviceman Vitaliy Dyban, who was earlier considered missing after the fighting in the Krynok area of Kherson region.
This was reported by “TSN”.
According to Vitaliy Dyban’s wife, the serviceman was captured during the fighting in the Krynok area. His status as a prisoner of war was officially confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross only on February 6, 2026.
The soldier’s family all this time believed he was alive, because they had evidence of his being in captivity: an interrogation video, recordings from the penal colony, and testimony from servicemen who returned from captivity. At the same time, the Russian side for a long time did not confirm this information.
«We just screamed in the car when we received this message. We screamed so much that our legs gave out. These are emotions that cannot be conveyed», — said the wife of the freed serviceman.
Also among the released are servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service. These are privates, sergeants and officers who fought in various sectors of the front — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson — and also took part in the defense of Mariupol.
Most of the released had been in Russian captivity for more than a year, and some since 2022.
Recall, during the most recent prisoner exchanges nine residents of Kherson region returned home.