https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63981510
A US citizen held since June is among dozens released in a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said in his nightly address Ukraine had received 64 soldiers, including four officers and 60 other troops.
In a tweet, a top adviser to Mr Zelensky said the deal also freed an American, Suedi Murekezi.
It caught my eye, probably at first just because of the unusual name, but then I saw,
Ukrainian chief of staff Andriy Yermak said the military personnel released had fought in Donetsk and Luhansk.
In a post on social media he said Mr Murekezi - a US Air Force veteran - had been helping the Ukrainian people before he ended up in Russian custody.
Russia's Tass news agency has reported that Mr Murekezi was arrested in the eastern Donetsk region in June.
He was charged with attending anti-Russian protests and inciting ethnic hatred.
Mr Suedi told ABC News he had spent weeks in a "torture chamber" of a basement, where he was subjected to electric shocks and beaten by captors.
He said the Russians had accused him of being a CIA operative.
The Rwandan-born crypto investor settled in Ukraine in 2018, according to the Washington Post.
He reportedly lived in the US state of Minnesota and spent eight years in the US Air Force until 2017.
So along with the unusual name, an unusual background.
I've always been fascinated with people who risk life and limb to go fight in a foreign nation that can't compel them to.
Was this fellow just a mercenary, or an idealistic volunteer?
Looking a little further,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62158358
The outlet reports that the missing American lived in Minnesota and spent eight years in the US Air Force until 2017, when he began investing in shares and cryptocurrencies.
Drawn to Ukraine by the country's liberal bitcoin regulations, Mr Murekezi made business trips to the country before permanently settling in Kherson two years ago, the Guardian said.
That doesn't add much. Still might be just a mercenary, or an idealist, or maybe a little of both.
The Russians say he's a CIA operative, which is what they say about pretty much every foreigner, so it means little. The CIA denies any connection, which is what they say whether it's true or not, so it too means very little.
The ABC story doesn't have any more information than the BBC story, but it does have a couple cool pics.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/american-suedi-murekezi-freed-russian-controlled-territory-ukrainian/story?id=95215831
There's some deep facial scarring there, which just as a conjecture suggests some serious suffering in the past, quite likely in Rwanda's internal turmoil.
The Russians support this:
https://foreigncombatants.ru/en//index.php?title=Suedi_Murekezi#Biography
Suedi Murekezi is an American businessman arrested in Kherson in June 2022. He is implicated in coordination of pro-Ukrainian rallies. Born in Rwanda. As of July 2022 he is 35 years old. He has a brother Sele Murekezi [2]. In 1994 together with his family he moved to United States due to the genocide of Rwandan Tutsi. He lived in Minnesota and spent eight years in the US Air Force [3] until 2017, when he began investing in shares and cryptocurrencies [3].
Drawn to Ukraine by the country's liberal bitcoin regulations, Mr. Murekezi made business trips to the country before permanently settling in Kherson two years ago.
Trying to find more, but so far just dozens of reports all repeating the same few fact with not much to add. I'll keep looking from time to time.
