Геннадий Щербань с дочерью Натальей Петрович. Архивное фото
During a prisoner exchange conducted by Ukraine and Russia on February 5, a Belarusian serviceman, Hennadz Shcherban, was released. His daughter, Natallia Petrovich, wrote about this on social media. Her post was noted by Radio Svaboda.
Shcherban spent nearly four years in Russian captivity.
“Yesterday was the best day for our entire family. Dad was freed. This day came on Misha’s birthday. All day I was afraid it was a dream and that I would wake up, but it is all real. I am happy. Now I am truly happy. Thank you to everyone who waited together with us,” she wrote on Instagram.
Shcherban is 57 years old. He is an ethnic Ukrainian. In the early 1990s, he was transferred as a serviceman to serve in Belarus — first to the Brest Region and later to the Hrodna Region. In 2000, Shcherban retired with the rank of major. In 2017, he and his wife moved back to live in Ukraine, settling in Hostomel near Kyiv. Shcherban is a citizen of Belarus and holds permanent residence status in Ukraine.
The last time before his captivity that Shcherban made contact was on March 16, 2022. The outskirts of Kyiv were already occupied by Russian troops at that time. Three residents remained in Hostomel. Shcherban stayed in the settlement to look after an elderly, seriously ill neighbor. On March 16, he went to feed livestock and did not return home. Later, Ukrainians released from captivity told relatives that Shcherban was being held prisoner.
The latest prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia took place on February 5 and was conducted in a 157-for-157 format. Authorities in Belarus claim that Russian soldiers were handed over by the Ukrainian side “as part of a reciprocal gesture” in response to the “pardon” of 31 Ukrainian citizens who returned from Belarusian prisons in November last year.