Five British men released from custody by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine in a prisoner swap are now back home, a group campaigning for their release said on Thursday.

“We know everyone is now safe in the UK and look forward to normality with their families following this terrible ordeal,” humanitarian organization Presidium Network said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Prime Minister Liz Truss tweeted on Wednesday that the men’s release was “very welcome”.

Five British men – Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, Dylan Healy, John Harding and Andrew Hill – have been released in a record-breaking prisoner swap that also freed US, Moroccan, Swedish and Croatian nationals, as well as Ukrainian and Separatist militants, a major pro -Moscow politician.

Aslin told reporters on his doorstep in Newark, east England: “I just want to say that I want to thank President (Volodymyr) Zelensky and the Saudi authorities and everyone else who was involved in our release.

“Over the next few days, the rest of us will tell the media what we have to say,” he said, asking for privacy “after the traumatic experience we just went through.”

Aslin was standing next to a hand-drawn sign that read “Welcome home Aiden.”

Pinner’s family posted a photo of him smiling and hugging family members.

The freed prisoners were flown to Riyadh on Wednesday after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took part in negotiations.

The British men had been held by Russian proxies in the Donetsk separatist center after they volunteered to fight and help in the war.

Aslin and Pinner were sentenced to death in June, while the other three men were tried in August on the same charge of serving as mercenaries.

One Briton, Paul Urey, died in captivity after being arrested shortly after the war began in April.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this month that the body of the aide had been handed over to Kyiv and showed “signs of possible unspeakable torture.”

His mother, Linda Urey, wrote on Facebook of the prisoner’s release: “I’m happy for those involved, but I’m devastated that my son is not among them.”

Urey’s family has been crowdfunding to raise money for the repatriation of his body.

His mother wrote that his body is still in Kyiv, lying dead in a freezer for almost three months.

“Our thoughts remain with Paul Urey’s family,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Wednesday.