Ukraine brings home Azovstal defender whose family was killed in Russian missile strike on Dnipro

On 31 January, 207 Ukrainian soldiers were brought back from Russian captivity, including defenders of Mariupol and Kherson, fighters from Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, marines, and combat medics. Junior Sergeant Zakhar, whose family was killed during a missile strike on an apartment building in Dnipro, was among those liberated, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Zakhar and his wife Tetiana defended Mariupol.

After being evacuated from Azovstal in May 2022, they were taken into Russian captivity together.

Less than six months later, Tetiana was exchanged and she returned to Ukraine, settling in Dnipro with the couple's two daughters. On 14 January 2023, a Russian missile struck an apartment building on Naberezhna Peremohy Street. Tetiana, her younger daughter and her husband's mother were among the 46 people killed in the attack.

Ruslana, the elder daughter, is now 19 and is waiting for her dad to return home. Among the others who have been brought back to Ukraine are medics who saved civilians and their comrades-in-arms at the Azovstal steelworks and the Illich Steel and Iron Works in Mariupol. A senior lieutenant who has been defending Ukraine since 2014 and has received two Orders for Courage was also exchanged. 

And two siblings who served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Anatolii and Pavlo, were released, as was another defender of Zmiinyi Island. 

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