“We didn’t see any grass or birds”: UNIAN correspondent Dmytro Khylyuk gave an interview after returning from captivity

The journalist admitted that upon his return, he first plans to hug his parents and kiss them.

UNIAN correspondent Dmytro Khylyuk , who returned from Russian captivity today, August 24, gave his first interview after his release. He said that the main task now is to free the remaining Ukrainians, especially those who have been in captivity since 2022.

Emotions after returning from captivity

“Emotions are overwhelming. I am very happy to be back. Now for me this day is not only Independence Day, but also my second birthday,” Khilyuk said shortly after his return.

The correspondent noted that he had already spoken to his parents. He said that in all this time, the occupiers had given him only one letter from his family, and that was for 2023, which he received in 2025.

How the journalist learned about the exchange

Khlyuk shared that hints of his exchange had appeared a few days earlier. However, he was skeptical, as people were sometimes taken away and then returned.

“There were doubts until the last moment, when the Russian plane landed only in Belarus, and when we were told to remove the blindfolds and unwrap the tape from our hands, then I realized – hell was over,” the correspondent added.

The journalist said he learned about the exchange from his cellmates. He was first transferred to another cell, then returned and told that there would be no exchange.

In addition, Khiluk said that he and other captured Ukrainians were forced to sign a “document” stating that they allegedly had no claims against Russia.

“About the fact that they allegedly had no moral or physical influence on us. That is, complete nonsense, which, of course, we all signed in captivity,” the journalist added.

Total lack of information in Russian captivity

“By the way, there is a disaster with letters there. Almost no one receives them. There is a complete information vacuum. People in captivity have strength, they say, we will hold on. But the big problem is that no one knows what is happening to their relatives,” Khylyuk said.

The journalist shared that there was a total lack of any information in Russian captivity.

He admitted that he did not even know that Ukraine had liberated Kherson.

“We didn’t even know what time it was. For the first time in 3.5 years, I saw a clock on a bus in Belarus. We also kept a calendar ourselves, remembering what day it was today and what day it would be tomorrow,” Khilyuk emphasized.

The journalist said that during the entire time he spent in captivity, he saw almost nothing:

“We only saw the painted-over windows of the cell, a piece of sky through the open window for ventilation, asphalt, because we walked bent over. We didn’t see grass, we didn’t see birds, the only birds were crows on the observation tower for all these years.”

Khilyuk noted that only occasionally could the guards find out when Easter was this year. However, this was more of an exception.Read also:

“I’ve only seen one human face in all these years, from the staff, let’s say,” the journalist clarified.

First plans after returning from captivity

The correspondent admitted that upon his return, he first plans to hug and kiss his parents. After that, he plans to return to work.

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Dmytro Khylyuk’s return from Russian captivity – what is known

We would like to remind you that today, August 24, Ukraine returned a large number of prisoners and civilian hostages from Russian captivity. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky noted that among others, UNIAN correspondent Dmytro Khylyuk returned home .

Dmytro Khylyuk was held in Russian prisons for 3 years, 5 months, and 21 days. During this time, his relatives received little information.

The journalist and his father were abducted by the occupiers in early March 2022, right on the street in the village of Kozarovychi in the Kyiv region, where his family lived. Like other local men, they were initially held in an industrial building in a neighboring village.

Fleeing from the Kyiv region under the blows of the Defense Forces, the Russians took with them some civilian hostages, including Dmytro Khylyuk. His father, an elderly man, the occupiers later decided to release.

(c)UNIAN 2025