Ukraine mother keeps fighting for POWs after son's return

Ukrainian campaigner Tetiana Vyshniak is continuing to press for the release of prisoners of war after her son Artem returned from Russian captivity.

Artem was captured in 2022 in Mariupol after the weeks-long Russian siege of the city and the Azovstal steel works. Around 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers were captured after the siege, according to the source item.

Vyshniak, 47, said she received a call from Ukraine's Security Service telling her that Artem was being freed. But she said she could not feel fully overjoyed while other mothers, wives, daughters and sisters were still waiting for relatives to return.

After Artem's capture was confirmed, Vyshniak joined the Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders and became a leading figure in the campaign for the soldiers' release. She has taken part in more than 400 rallies and now protests daily outside the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in Kyiv.

Some 10,000 Ukrainians have been freed in dozens of prisoner exchanges with Russia. Kyiv does not choose whom Moscow releases in each exchange.

Azov commander Denys Prokopenko says more than 500 Azov soldiers remain in Russian captivity. The Azov fighters captured in Mariupol have iconic status in Ukraine, though the unit has also drawn criticism over its far-right roots before it was brought into Ukraine's official army and reformed.

Vyshniak said Artem is trying to catch up on lost time and has joined some of her rallies. Like many Azov fighters, he has also expressed a wish to return to the front.