Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, who spent over a year in a Ukrainian jail, returned in the landmark prisoner swap. Upon touching down in Moscow, he shared his emotions right next to the plane that brought him home.

Vyshinsky, the head of the news agency RIA Novosti Ukraine, is among 35 people who were held by Kiev and exchanged on Saturday for an equal number of Ukrainian nationals jailed and detained in Russia.

“I've never been that nervous lately. Different people are calling me, congratulating, so many emotions,” Vyshinsky told reporters.

I know how all of you worried about me and thanks a lot for that. I felt that I was not alone, I felt that I had people who remembered me, who tried to do something for me. Not because I’m Kirill Vyshinsky, but because I’m a journalist.

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Ukrainian authorities accused the journalist of spreading false information as well as backing the breakaway self-proclaimed Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. He spent over a year in detention, yet was released on bail last Wednesday.

Vyshinsky has firmly denied all charges, insisting that he was targeted for simply doing his job as a journalist.Everything he went through over the past year is an invaluable – while hard – experience that will surely come in handy with his work, Vyshinsky said, adding that he did not lose his journalism skills during his jail time.

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Apart from the 35 people, another passenger – a pet cat – arrived in Ukraine during the exchange, Vyshinsky revealed. The feline belongs to one of the now-ex prisoners and they actually did jail time together. Naturally, the man plans to keep the furry cellmate called Mashka, according to Vyshinsky.

“Actually, it’s the second cat [the prisoner] brought to freedom. The first one got out of prison without him, getting exchanged in 2017. He did not get on the list back then, and it simply got out in someone’s bag while he was not released.”

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