All Chernobyl Defenders Are Finally Home After 1,703 Days in Captivity
It took nearly five years of hell, but every single guard dragged out of the exclusion zone back in 2022 is finally back.
When Russian troops rolled through the exclusion zone in early 2022, they didn't just dig trenches in radioactive dirt like tactical geniuses. They also captured roughly 170 Ukrainian national guardsmen and security personnel stationed at the plant and hauled them off into the depths of the Russian penal system.
Then began 1,703 days of excruciating family campaigns, diplomatic haggling, and endless waiting. Ukraine has been chipping away at that list person by person across dozens of swaps.
Now, as part of a massive 270-person prisoner exchange, the last three Chernobyl defenders finally crossed back onto Ukrainian soil. The family advocacy group confirmed the count: out of that original captured garrison, not a single one remains behind bars in Russia.
Surviving duty at the world's most infamous nuclear disaster site only to spend nearly five years in Russian prison camps is a tier of endurance ordinary people can barely fathom.
Source: Instagram
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