By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says ten Ukrainian civilians held prisoner for years by Russia arrived in Kyiv on Saturday after the mediation of the Vatican, including even priests and a representative of the Crimean Tatars.
They had been waiting for this moment for years, hoping and perhaps praying that the world had not forgotten them. Ten visibly tired, exhausted former prisoners arrived in Kyiv after the Vatican mediated their case.
Some had been captured years before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Among those freed was Nariman Dzhelyal, deputy head of the Mejlis, a representative body of Crimean Tatars that was relocated to Kyiv after Russia seized the peninsula in 2014.
He was taken from Crimea, where he lived despite the annexation, one year before the war.
The former prisoners, wrapped in blue and yellow flags, reunited with families in Kyiv and called those who couldn’t be there. For some, the separation had lasted many years.
Two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests were also among those freed.
OCCUPIED CITY
Officials said that Russia released Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan Heleta, both members of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, along with the eight others.
Priest Heleta was detained in 2022 in his church in the occupied city of Berdiansk in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia.
He urged the world not to forget those who stayed behind. “There are a lot of our men,” he said. “And girls and women are there. They need help concrete help. They are waiting for this help. I also ask the world to react even more.”
Pope Francis, in an address on Saturday, called for the release of all prisoners in the war and thanked God for the liberation of the two priests.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement that he was grateful to everyone who helped and especially acknowledged what he called “the efforts of the Holy See in bringing these people home.”
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War says 3,310 Ukrainians have already been released from Russian captivity since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
They also include 90 war prisoners released by each site earlier this week. The United Arab Emirates mediated the exchange of the 180 prisoners of war.
Yet, with many still behind bars, Zelenskyy has said he still hopes all prisoners can be exchanged as Europe’s bloodiest war since World War Two is now raging in its third year.
On Saturday, Pope Francis invited all present to pray that all prisoners return home. At the same time, he reflected “with pain” on the “brothers and sisters suffering because of war.”
“Let us think of all the people wounded or threatened by the fighting”, said Francis asking that God may “free them and sustain them in the struggle for peace”.
He has made clear that he is prepared to help mediate a lasting peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and earlier went out of his way to visit the Russian embassy in Rome to urge an end to the bloodshed.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israel’s military is moving ahead with an ambitious modernization effort as IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir initiates concrete steps to implement a new five-year strategic plan aimed at reshaping the battlefield of the future.
President Donald Trump on Monday said any nation that does business with Iran will face a 25% tariff on imports as massive protests in the Islamic Republic continue into a third week.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has urged alliance members to jointly protect Greenland, as a senior European Union official warned that any U.S. military takeover of the strategic Arctic territory would spell the end of NATO.
Christians across Colombia expressed deep shock and grief after church officials confirmed that a prominent evangelical pastor was shot and killed during New Year’s celebrations in the country’s Caribbean region.
Bible sales reached historic highs in both the United Kingdom and the United States in 2025, according to newly released industry data, pointing to a growing re-engagement with Christian faith amid global uncertainty.
The same Mississippi synagogue bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1960s was targeted again over the weekend, as authorities arrested a suspect accused of setting a fire at Beth Israel Congregation early Saturday morning.
Britain is holding discussions with NATO allies on how it can help strengthen security in the Arctic amid growing concerns over increased activity by Russia and China, a senior government minister said Sunday.