Former political prisoner Andriy Zakhtey returned to Ukraine after his illegal detention ended in February 2023. The man said that he managed to get to his homeland from Russia through Latvia.

Andrii Zakhtei was detained in the occupied Crimea in August 2016. Employees of the occupation FSB then accused him of alleged “sabotage activities”. According to the prosecution, Zakhtei, who was engaged in private transportation in Crimea, was supposed to meet an alleged sabotage group and transport them across the peninsula. The occupation court illegally sentenced Zakhtei to 6.5 years in prison.

The former political prisoner was greeted in Ukraine by his family – his wife Oksana and seven-year-old daughter Oleksandra.