On April 11, as part of the 72nd exchange, 24-year-old Kherson resident Mykola Shcherbyna returned to Ukraine. He had been held in Russian captivity for three and a half years.
This was reported by the Media Initiative for Human Rights.
“They released my son! Many people have been calling me today. I’m still in shock, I haven’t come to my senses yet,” — Mykola’s mother, Valentyna Shcherbyna, told the human rights defenders.
It is noted that Mykola will spend some time in quarantine, after which he will finally be able to see his family. He will then undergo rehabilitation.
Recall that Russian troops initially tried to illegally detain Mykola Shcherbyna at a checkpoint in the village of Pryozerne in the Kherson region. They released him then, but already on November 14, during searches of local residents’ homes, he was taken from his home.
In 2023, from those released from captivity Mykola’s mother learned that her son was being held in the pre-trial detention center (SIZO) in the city of Kamyshin in the Volgograd region.
At the beginning of 2026 it became known that Mykola Shcherbyna’s condition due to the terrible dampness and unsanitary conditions in the Russian pre-trial detention center was critical — his legs began to rot.
It is worth recalling that on April 11 from Russian captivity 175 Ukrainian servicemen were returned and seven civilians were returned. Among them were defenders who carried out combat missions on the Kherson front.