18, Butkevych's family confirmed.Zelensky also confirmed that an unspecified number Azov Regiment soldiers - who defended Mariupol and Azovstal at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion - were among those who were returned on Oct. 18.Ukrainian soldiers from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson oblasts were also included in the exchange. The relatives and friends of freed Ukrainian prisoners of war wait as they celebrate their return during a prisoner exchange on Oct. 18, 2024. (Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets/Telegram)It was not immediately clear as to who - among the 95 prisoners held by Ukraine - was returned to Russia. The United Arab Emirates reportedly assisted in brokering the 190-person prisoner exchange.Human Rights Center ZMINA, the organization that human rights activists Maksym Butkevych co-founded, announced Butkevych's return from Russian captivity, where he has held since being captured in June 2022.Butkevych is a well-known human rights activist and journalist specializing in the protection of refugees.Before the war, Butkevych worked with a Ukrainian NGO supporting internally displaced persons, as well as at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ukraine.