A Ukrainian prisoner of war was brought to tears after eating fresh fruit for the first time in a year.
Heartbreaking footage captured the moment shortly after Ukrainian soldiers were released from a Russian PoW camp.
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, yesterday wrote on Telegram that 44 prisoners were retrieved from Russian custody.
He said 42 of those were soldiers and two were civilians – and that some of those freed had injuries sustained during torture.
The short clip shows a small group of released Ukrainian prisoners, who have all had their heads shaved, sitting on the ground.
It first shows a relieved soldier with a beaming smile on his face as he tucks into an apple.
A TikTok user who posted a translated version of the video titled ‘heroes are returning home from Russian captivity’ explained that the man says: ‘I’ve dreamt about an apple for a year.’
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It then pans to a second man in the group who is clearly very emotional as he’s seen cradling an apple in his hands and eating it.
He continually weeps as he’s speaking to another man nearby in a gut-wrenching moment.
A third soldier in the shot claims he’s lost more than 3st in weight while he was imprisoned, saying: ‘I’ve lost 20 kilograms.’
Visegrád 24, an English account for central and eastern European news, tweeted: ‘First apple or fresh fruit for these Ukrainian soldiers in nearly a year.
‘They were part of a group of 44 Ukrainian POWs exchanged yesterday.’
The group of prisoners posed for pictures to celebrate being set free and were photographed proudly holding up Ukrainian flags together before boarding coaches to leave.
Since Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago, there have been regular prisoner exchanges.
Conflict has continued in recent weeks with Ukrainian forces crossing the Dnipro River for the first time as part of a long-awaited counter offensive.
Ukraine’s ‘unique’ special forces are also reportedly destroying targets deep behind Russian lines, while Putin has rolled out Russia’s newest tanks onto the battlefield.
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