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Fighters affiliated with the Russian-installed administration of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region arrived in the town of Amvrosiivka on Sunday after being freed in a prisoner swap with the Ukrainian military.
"I still can't believe I'm home," returning prisoner of war (POW) Maxim Chekanov told Reuters.
"It was so horrible, I wouldn't wish it on anyone," added Chekanov, who said he had been captured by Ukrainian forces on Oct. 11.
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The fighters were freed during a prisoner exchange on Nov. 3, with the two sides in the eight-month-old conflict releasing 107 captives each.
Prisoner exchanges have been a regular occurrence during the conflict, with both military personnel and high-ranking politicians released in the swaps.
In Amvrosiivka, a town of 18,000 people close to the internationally-recognised border with Russia, Denis Pushilin, head of the region's Russian-installed administration, greeted the returning fighters.
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Some of the men wept as they were reunited with tearful family members.
One woman, Lyudmila, said her returning son, Yevgeny, had lost a lot of weight since she last saw him. He walked slowly beside her, leaning on a walking stick.
"I didn't recognise him," she said through tears as they sat next to each other, asking not to give their full names.
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"Everything will be okay, sweetie," she told Yevgeny, who clutched a handkerchief to his face.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Helen Popper)