New stage of prisoner swap completed: some released Ukrainian soldiers had been considered missing – photos, videos

Under the Istanbul agreements, another group of severely wounded and seriously ill service members were brought back to Ukraine from Russian captivity on 12 June.

Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X (Twitter); Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War

Quote from Zelenskyy: "Today, warriors of our Armed Forces, National Guard and Border Guard Service are back home. They all require medical treatment, and they will certainly receive the care they need. This is already the second stage of bringing back severely wounded and seriously ill warriors."

Details: Those released are members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, particularly the Air Assault Forces, Navy, Air Force, Territorial Defence Forces, Unmanned Systems Forces, State Border Guard Service and the National Guard of Ukraine.

Among those freed are defenders of Mariupol who had been held in captivity for over three years. All those released are men, ranked as privates and sergeants.

Some of the Ukrainian soldiers released on Thursday had previously been considered missing in action.

The freed soldiers fought on the Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk fronts.

The defenders will undergo the necessary medical examinations, receive physical and psychological rehabilitation support and be granted all payments due to them for the entire duration of their captivity.

Background:

• At the negotiations in Istanbul on 2 June, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a 6,000-for-6,000 exchange of bodies of fallen soldiers. The Ukrainian and Russian delegations also agreed on the all-for-all exchange involving severely wounded and young service members aged between 18 and 25.
• On 9 June, the first group of released servicemen under the age of 25 returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity as part of the first stage of the 66th prisoner exchange.
• On 10 June, Ukraine brought back from Russian captivity a group of defenders who had suffered severe injuries and have serious health conditions.
• On 11 June, the bodies of 1,212 fallen defenders were brought back to Ukraine as a result of repatriation efforts.
• The Coordination Headquarters emphasised that, for security reasons, the exact number of released service members will be announced after the completion of the exchange process.

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