Ukrainians hope for news of loved ones among POW swap with Russia

Ukrainian prisoners of war have begun returning home amid a huge swap with Russia.

CHERNIHIV, Ukraine — For Olga Serhichuk, the sight of dozens of her countrymen returning home from brutal Russian captivity is bittersweet.

Like hundreds of desperate others, she had come to a hospital in Chernihiv, north of Kyiv, not only to welcome the shaved, beaten-up Ukrainian prisoners of war who were coming home as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia.

Serhichuk, who turns 39 on Friday, was also hoping that one of the liberated men had seen or heard news of her husband, Serhiy, 42, with whom she has a son, 5, at home.

“I’m happy for those who came back. I’m also very saddened that my husband is still out there somewhere,” she told NBC News through tears Tuesday while, like most people here, holding a large photograph of her husband, whom she last heard from in November, when he called to say his 36th Marine Brigade was headed to the embattled northern city of Sumy.

“I’m waiting and hoping that he’ll be back home soon,” she said. “Even if he’s sick, it matters not. I want him to be alive.”