Vjekoslav Prebeg, a Croat recently released from Russian detention, was flown to Zagreb on Thursday, and upon his arrival he was taken to the KB Dubrava hospital which reported that the patient was in a good physical condition but "emotionally shaken".

The head of the hospital’s department of surgery, Toni Kolak, examined Prebeg as soon as he was hospitalised.

Kolak said that the patient was in a good physical shape but emotionally shaken.

“The traces of a wound to his right shoulder are still visible. We will conduct a thorough medical check-up necessary for any person who has experienced torture in a camp. I believe that he will stay in the hospital just one day and then be discharged,” Kolak said.

Prebeg arrived in Zagreb aboard a Lufthansa plane.

The Croatian was arrested in May near Mariupol and accused by the pro-Russian separatist authorities of participating in the overthrowing of the government as a Ukrainian mercenary. He faced a death sentence. In August, he pleaded not guilty before a court of the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic, where he was on trial together with one Swedish and three British nationals.

The Saudi SPA news agency reported on Wednesday that Russia had released ten foreign prisoners of war captured in Ukraine, including a Croat, following a mediation by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“We thank Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their engagement as well as the Ukrainian side for the cooperation and wholehearted assistance in solving this case,” the Croatian foreign ministry said yesterday.

On Wednesday afternoon, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic tweeted that he thanked Ukraine and Saudi Arabia for assistance in freeing Prebeg from Russian captivity.