His father, Alexander Butkevich, reported this to the ZMINA Human Rights Center.
The man shared that he received a call from the Coordination Headquarters, informing him that his son had been freed during a prisoner exchange and is now on Ukrainian territory.
Updated at 00:57 on October 19. A total of 95 Ukrainian defenders were successfully returned home. Among them are 28 military personnel who were unlawfully “sentenced” by the Russians to long terms, and another 20 received life sentences.
Maxim Butkevich spoke with hromadske and mentioned that the news of the exchange was unexpected — he learned about it by chance while on the road.
In March 2023, a “court” in the occupied territories of the Luhansk region “sentenced” Maxim Butkevich to 13 years in a strict regime colony for allegedly shelling the entrance of a residential building in Severodonetsk and injuring two civilians.
The Investigative Committee of Russia claims that Butkevich allegedly admitted his guilt. However, the man had been in Russian captivity since June 2022, and independent lawyers — from both Russian and Ukrainian sides — did not have access to the materials of his case.
Maxim Butkevich's captivity became known on June 24, 2022, when Kremlin media released a video featuring him and other soldiers who were reportedly captured near Horsk in the Luhansk region. Russian propaganda also produced several reports labeling Butkevich as a “propagandist,” “Nazi,” and “commander of a punitive platoon.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasized that the entire judicial process is fake and was staged in Russia to legitimize the political persecution of Ukrainian citizens. The announced sentences against Butkevich and other prisoners of war are illegal and void, the ministry stressed.
The Ukrainian human rights activist and journalist is a co-founder of “Hromadske Radio” (2013) and the ZMINA Human Rights Center. He previously worked for BBC World Service and several nationwide Ukrainian television channels, served as a guest lecturer at NaUKMA for several years, and was a board member of the Ukrainian branch of Amnesty International and the public council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Butkevich was also the coordinator and co-founder of the “Without Borders” project, aimed at assisting asylum seekers, Ukrainian displaced persons, and combating hate speech.
In March 2022, Maxim Butkevich joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.