San Francisco Frontiers - 'Seventh heaven': Tears and laughter as Ukrainian POWs return

"Hello mum, how are you?," the 31-year-old soldier said, moments after stepping back onto Ukrainian soil on Friday.

"I love you. Don't be sad. It wasn't my fault. I promised I would come back safe and sound," he said, smiling but with watery eyes.

Steblev, who was captured at the start of Russia's invasion, was one of 390 military and civilian prisoners released in exchange for 390 sent back to Russia.

More swaps are expected on Saturday and Sunday to bring the total to 1,000 for 1,000 as agreed in talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul last week.

Steblev arrived with the other former captives by coach at a local hospital where hundreds of relatives were waiting, shouting, crying and singing "Congratulations!"

During the journey back to Ukraine, Steblev told AFP he experienced "indescribable" emotions.

"It's simply crazy. Crazy feelings," he said.

- 'In seventh heaven' -

During his years of captivity, Steblev said he managed to keep going thanks to his wife.

"She knows I am strong and that I am not going to give up just like that," he said, adding that now he just wants to be with his family.

"It's my absolute priority," he said.

After that, he said it would be up to his wife to decide on the next steps.

"She will tell me and will show me how to act in future," he said.

Thin, tired and looking slightly lost, the freshly released prisoners filed into a local hospital for medical checks.

But Olena and Oleksandr stayed outside, locked in a tight embrace despite the cameras pointed at them.

They said they had not seen each other in 22 months since Oleksandr was captured by Russia.

"I am in seventh heaven," the 45-year-old said in his wife's arms.

He said his dream now was to "eat... eat and spend time with my family".

- 'They did not break him' -

As the buses arrived at the hospital, relatives of soldiers who are still in prison ran towards the freed men to show them images of their loved ones and ask if they had seen them during their captivity.

Some women walked away crying when they failed to get any news.

Some know that their relatives are jailed but others have no news at all and desperately hope for any scrap of information.

Moments after being reunited with her husband Andriy after three years apart, Elia, 33, embraced the tearful mother of a soldier who had no news about her son.

When she saw her husband, Elia said her "heart was beating out of my chest" and she cried with joy.

"I have been waiting so long for this," she said.

Several former prisoners of war interviewed by AFP in the past have spoken of harsh conditions and torture in Russian prisons.

Elia is now thinking about the future and about having a child with her husband.

But she said she knew that the path to rehabilitation would be a long one for him.

"He has an empty stare but I know they did not break him. The guys with him told me he was very strong," she said.

S.Jackson--SFF