Maksym Butkevych, a Ukrainian human rights activist and prisoner of war (POW), has been released by Russia after more than two years of captivity. Butkevych had been the focus of an international campaign for his freedom since his capture in June 2022.
Butkevych was freed on October 18 as part of an exchange brokered between Ukraine and Russia that involved 95 Ukrainian and 95 Russian POWs. The news was warmly welcomed by his family, Ukrainian progressives and his many supporters internationally.
Butkevych is well-known in Ukraine for his long history of activism, dating back to his days as an anarchist, anti-fascist and member of student union Direct Action at Taras Shevchenko National University in the 1990s.
Butkevych went on to co-found No Borders, an NGO dedicated to assisting refugees and internally displaced people in Ukraine, and worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He also co-founded the ZMINA Human Rights Centre.
Having trained as a journalist, Butkevych co-founded Hromadske Radio and worked for outlets such as the BBC World Service and several Ukrainian TV channels.
With the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Butkevych decided to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In a Facebook post that March, he wrote: “Unfortunately, I have to put my refugee assistance, humanitarian, and human rights activism on hold. I think you can understand why ... There are times when you have to be ready to defend what is important — I firmly believe that. And the rest — after the victory.”
Butkevych was captured by Russian forces near the village of Hirske in Ukraine’s Luhansk oblast, along with other members of his unit. Then, on March 10, 2023, he was handed a 13-year jail sentence by a kangaroo court in Russian-occupied Luhansk.
Regarding the court hearing, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Denis Krivosheev described it as a “sham trial which was held in secret, against a defendant who had limited contact with the outside world, including his lawyer, and was apparently forced to incriminate himself on video for a crime which Maksym Butkevych simply could not have committed”.
Krivosheev added that the sham trial “and his treatment since his captivity” were clearly “a reprisal by Russia for his civic activism and his prominent human rights work”.
While Butkevych’s whereabouts were unknown for a long time, it was later revealed he was held captive in a penal colony in Krasnyi Luch, Luhansk, along with four dozen other POWs. He was the only POW from the penal colony included in the prisoner swap.
Just five days after his release, Butkevych participated in the first major meeting between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and representatives of two dozen NGOs.
In his speech to the meeting, Butkevych thanked all those who had campaigned for his freedom, noting: “Ukrainians in Russian captivity are like frozen insects in amber. For them, time has stopped. But it is important for all of them to know that everything possible is being done to free them.”
Butkevych used the opportunity to present Zelensky with a list prepared by ZMINA of 30 journalists and two human rights defenders who continue to be held by Russia.