Relief for some, anguish for others as Ukrainians welcome home prisoners of war
Amnesty says the number of detainees in Russia isn't known but likely numbers in the thousands.
The latest credible estimate of killed and wounded soldiers on both sides, by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, this month, said there have been almost 1.4 million, around two thirds of them Russian.
The desperate search for missing soldiers is a stark reminder of the often unseen price of war felt by families on both sides of the front line.
Ludmyla Yevhenivna is looking for her two sons, who were drafted into the Ukrainian army last fall and went missing in January. She hasn't heard from her older son, Sergiy, 50, since he disappeared while fighting in the Kursk region.
Yevhenivna's younger son, Vladyslav, 39, was captured by Russia near Kursk. She shared three videos published on Russian accounts showing her son in military uniform answering questions about his service.
'My family, my mom, I miss you a lot,' he said, his look to the camera still bringing tears to his mother's eyes.
'I don't wish anyone to go through this.' Ludmylla said. 'I don't wish an enemy to go through all that.'
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The Independent
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