Protesters rallied outside the US embassy in Kyiv on Thursday to bring attention to the fate of Ukrainian prisoners of war and ensure their inclusion in any deal to stop the conflict with Russia.
Kateryna Buhutska was one of around 200 people at the protest, holding a picture of her son before he was taken prisoner in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
鈥業 realise that the US is a country that has a lot of influence, a lot depends on it. That鈥檚 why we want to ask it to help us bring our people home,鈥� 46-year-old Buhutska said.
The US had been Ukraine鈥檚 biggest backer until president Donald Trump initiated a complete shift in his country鈥檚 foreign policy and halted US support to Ukraine.
Despite Trump鈥檚 U-turn, Buhutska and others in the crowd believed Washington could help them.
鈥業 don鈥檛 understand what is happening in the world. We are scared of everything that is said in the news, but we are here to remind you that our boys, fathers, sons, husbands, must be returned,鈥� she said.
The UN has warned of widespread and systematic torture in Russian prisons, with 95 per cent of the released Ukrainian POWs providing accounts of torture or ill-treatment there.
鈥業 went through it myself and I know that every day there is hell, just hell,鈥� said Oleksandr Demenko, who was freed from Russian captivity in early 2024.
He said 鈥榓ll hope is now on the US鈥� to ensure his brothers-in-arms could also escape the 鈥榙aily inhumane torture鈥�.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed a complete exchange of all prisoners of war with Russia as a path towards ending the conflict.
Natalya Pisnya, 51, said he hoped to her husband Volodymyr Kondratenko could come home in such an 鈥榓ll for all鈥� exchange.
He went missing almost a year ago 鈥� meaning he had either been killed in combat, or was taken prisoner by Russian forces.
鈥業 believe he鈥檚 in captivity. I want them to exchange everyone for everyone. That鈥檚 all I believe in 鈥� that he is alive,鈥� she said.