Former Kherson mayor Mykolayenko released from Russian captivity

Volodymyr Mykolayenko, the former mayor of Kherson, who was abducted in 2022, has been released from Russian captivity.

This was reported by MOST, citing sources in the Presidential Office. The information was also confirmed by his family.

The release took place during a 146-for-146 prisoner exchange.

Mykolayenko was abducted by the Russian military on April 18, 2022. Before that, he had joined the territorial defense and refused offers of cooperation with the occupiers, including from the already liquidated collaborator Stremousov.

At first, the former mayor was held in Kherson, where he appeared in propaganda videos. Later, he was probably taken to Crimea or Russia. In November 2022, his fate remained unknown, and later the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that Mykolayenko was in Russian captivity.

In May 2025, it became known that back in 2022, he refused to be exchanged in favor of a seriously ill prisoner. After that, the Russian side no longer included him in the exchange lists.

Volodymyr Mykolayenko was the mayor of Kherson from 2014 to 2020. He was also an active participant in the local Euromaidan and opposed any attempts to seize the city by terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, Yevhen Ihnatenko became the new deputy head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration.

<span>The decision was made by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on August 20. Ihnatenko has experience in the maritime industry, in particular, he headed the State Service of Maritime and Inland Water Transport from December 2022 to February 2025. Previously, from 2013 to 2017, he was the director of the shipping company Nibulon, and from 2017 - the commercial director of the company Green Shipping.</span>

Катерина Глушко