4 Ukrainian soldiers rescued after hiding in occupied territory for years
Special forces have evacuated four Ukrainian soldiers who spent three years hiding in Russian-occupied territory, Oleksii Neizhpapa, commander of the Ukrainian Navy, said on Sept. 5.
He said that they had been evacuated by the navy's Angels special forces unit.
The soldiers had been injured in combat and had been hiding in the occupied territories in a hospital where "sympathetic doctors" helped them avoid Russian secret services, Neizhpapa wrote on Facebook.
The evacuees include a marine, three National Guards and a medical worker who helped hide the soldiers.
"The operation was planned and divided into several stages, taking into account the illegal status of all persons and the high intensity of combat operations, which was complicated by increased filtration measures on the part of the Russian special services," Neizhpapa said.
"Our guys survived where it seemed there was no chance."
Special evacuation measures started after Neizhpapa received information from Olha Reshetilova, Ukraine's ombudsman for soldiers' rights.
Reshetilova was told that the twin brother of a recently exchanged marine had been severely wounded during fighting in Ukraine’s east in 2022. This was one of the soldiers hiding in the hospital.
In a video released by Neizhpapa, a soldier waits for his rescued brother, whom he hasn't seen for four years.
"I miss him so much. I'm going to meet him now. It's not easy to get through something like this," he said.
The Angels unit has rescued 88 people in total.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in July that Kyiv had secured the release of over 6,400 Ukrainians from Russian captivity since 2022, of whom 5,857 were freed during prisoner exchanges.
