The last defender of Snake Island returned from captivity: first met his son.

The last defender of Snake Island, Vitaliy Hyrenko, has returned from Russian captivity to Odesa. For the first time after a long imprisonment, he saw his little son, who was born during his absence. Today, border guard Vitaliy Hyrenko returned to his hometown of Izmail after being in captivity for over three years. His wife was pregnant when he was captured, so she met their son for the first time only upon his return home. The reunion in the city turned out to be very warm and joyful, with hugs, tears of happiness, and words of gratitude from relatives, friends, and residents of Izmail. Now, Hyrenko awaits adaptation to civilian life. During the exchange on August 14, 33 military personnel and 51 Ukrainian civilians were returned from Russian captivity. Among them were both military and civilians who had served various sentences in Russian prisons. The youngest released was 26 years old, and the oldest was 74; he had spent the last seven years in captivity. Recently, support was also given to the imprisoned soldiers in Odesa, and a defender of Azovstal was returned.