During the latest prisoner swap with Russia, Ukraine brought back the last defender of Zmiinyi or Zmiinyi (Snake) Island. Vitalii Hyrenko returned home after spending more than three years in Russian captivity, the Facebook community of the Defenders of Zmiinyi Island reports. 

“The long-awaited exchange, three years and five months in captivity, for our last defender of Zmiinyi Island has taken place! Border guard of the island of Achilles, Vitalii Hyrenko, is home!!! Free, unbroken in spirit and body, Vitalii is finally back on his native soil,” the post reads.

In a February update, the community shared that Hyrenko’s small son, Dmytro, only knew his father from photos.

“When Vitalii was taken captive, his wife Aliona was seven months pregnant,” it wrote.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War also confirmed that Hyrenko, a soldier of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, had been released from captivity.

Following negotiations in Istanbul, the ninth round of prisoner exchanges with the Russian side took place on 24 July.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that severely wounded and critically ill defenders had returned home. According to him, more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been freed from Russian captivity across all phases of this exchange.

She was killed to be silenced. On July 19, in Lviv, Ukrainians marked the first anniversary of the death of Iryna Farion. She was a prominent linguist, scholar, politician, and symbol of the fight for Ukrainian identity, UkrInform reports.

Her murder in Lviv in 2023 at the age of 60 is seen not merely as a criminal act but as part of Russia’s hybrid war.

“The enemy is trying to use every tool to divide our nation,” said Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, following her death.

The attack on Farion is also regarded as a psychological attempt to intimidate its most courageous Ukrainian voices.

A year after the assassination, her family, colleagues, students, and community members gathered for a memorial service at the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church. Later, a procession made its way to Lychakiv Cemetery, where Farion is buried.

People will also assemble in silence in the courtyard on Masaryk Street, where she was killed, at 7:22 PM, the exact moment the fatal shot was fired one year ago. 

Farion’s daughter, Sofiia Osoba, left a powerful message on Instagram.

“A year. What is it like to live without Mom?.. I am an orphan. Ukraine is orphaned… I don’t want 19 July… This is the end of everything. 23:20. The end of your life. Now, it will be years,” she wrote.

Six days after the murder, Ukrainian law enforcement detained the suspect, 19-year-old Dnipro resident Vyacheslav Zinchenko. The court trial is currently ongoing.

Moscow is turning occupied Ukrainian cities into military bases for further aggression. In Mariupol, captured in 2022, Russian forces have established two military bases at the Azovstal steel plant, according to Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, UNIAN reports. 

According to Andriushchenko, one of the new bases was established in the last two months.

“This shows the level of militarization of Mariupol. Russian forces are relocating military assets mainly from Russia’s Rostov Oblast. Mariupol is no longer just a logistical crossroads. It is becoming a full-scale military logistics base,” he reveals. 

Andriushchenko says that each base at Azovstal originated from simple military checkpoints set up on the site.

He explains the location was chosen because it is hidden from outside surveillance, with no nearby residential buildings and difficult access due to fencing, making it safer for Russian troops.

“Let’s not forget that these bunkers and underground shelters once served to protect civilians and our Mariupol garrison. Now the Russians are repurposing them and succeeding in it,” Andriushchenko adds.

The Russian authorities do not care about the fate of the occupied cities or their residents. What matters to them is using these territories as staging grounds for continuing the war against Ukraine.

Nearly all Ukrainian cities under occupation are being turned into military footholds, logistical hubs, and bases for further aggression. At the same time, Russians forcibly conscript Ukrainians, often coercing them into fighting against their own country.

For example, in Crimea, people are leaving due to constant air raid sirens, explosions, and the overwhelming military presence, unable to endure the unrelenting stress and danger.

Russians in Crimea pack up as relentless sound of air alerts and sight of tanks become their new reality