THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
A historic event took place on Ukraine’s Independence Day, August 24, 2025, two Ukrainian journalists, Dmytro Khyliuk and Mark Kaliush, returned from russian captivity. Their release was part of the large-scale 68th prisoner exchange, during which Ukraine returned home 146 people, including military personnel and eight civilians.
This was reported by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Dmytro Khyliuk, a correspondent for the UNIAN news agency, was abducted by russian military personnel near his house in the village of Kozarovychi in the Kyiv Region on March 3, 2022, very beginning of the full-scale war.
Dmytro Khyliuk has been in journalism for about 20 years. Since December 2013, he has been a correspondent for the UNIAN news agency, specializing in covering court cases and law enforcement activities.
The conditions of his captivity were appalling. Initially, Khyliuk was held in a company building in Dymer, and later transferred via Bryansk Remand Prison 2 to Volodymyr Colony 7.
“Dmytro Khyliuk is at home,” said UNIAN editor-in-chief Mykhailo Hannytskyi. At the same time, he warned: premature publication of information about the exchange before the procedure is completed may violate security rules and create risks for the prisoners themselves.
The administrator of the Telegram channels RIA-Melitopol and Melitopol is Ukraine, Mark Kaliush, was detained on August 20, 2023. His arrest was part of a massive operation by russian special services, during which seven Melitopol media workers were kidnapped.
Kaliush and his colleagues are accused of terrorism, espionage, and collaboration with Ukrainian special services, which are typical charges that russia makes against independent journalists in the occupied regions.
The exchange took place with the mediation of the UAE. Among the journalists who returned home were, in particular, former mayor of Kherson Volodymyr Mykolayenko and a doctor from the Hospitaliers, Serhii Kovaliov.
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) is sincerely happy about this wonderful news! Journalists are important!
NUJU Information Service
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