An Air Force veteran who had been held in a prison in an area of Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed forces is on his way to Kyiv after a series of events that allegedly saw him traveling alone in the war-riddled region after being freed from custody six weeks ago.
Suedi Murekezi, a 35-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran originally from Rwanda, was captured in the eastern city of Kherson, Ukraine, in June. On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said that Murekezi had been freed from the area in conjunction with a prisoner swap, and ABC News reported having spoken with Murekezi as he moved toward the Ukrainian capital.
However, the leader of a humanitarian rescue nonprofit says that his organization orchestrated Murekezi's release on Oct. 28, and that the veteran had spent the last six weeks in the Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic, or DPR, after suddenly leaving during a transfer organized by his group.
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According to Bryan Stern, the CEO of Project Dynamo, Murekezi spent roughly 140 days in a prison controlled by Russian-backed forces in Eastern Ukraine before he was freed as a result of the group's work. Stern provided images and videos to Military.com showing what Stern says are the events leading up to Murekezi's October release, including footage that appeared to show Murekezi after he had left the prison.
“We were supposed to move on the 29th of October,” Stern said in an…
