Prisoner exchange takes place: 157 Ukrainians brought back home
A prisoner exchange has taken place for the first time in five months, with Ukraine managing to bring back 157 people held by the Kremlin, including both military personnel and civilians.
Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on social media; Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War
Quote: "We are bringing our people home – 157 Ukrainians.
Soldiers from the Armed Forces, the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service. Privates, sergeants and officers. Civilians are also coming back together with the defenders.
Most of them had been in captivity since 2022."
Details: Zelenskyy stressed that the exchange took place after a long pause. "I thank everyone who works to make these exchanges possible and everyone on the front line who helps replenish Ukraine's exchange pool," he said.
The Coordination Headquarters reported that this was already the 71st prisoner exchange.
A total of 150 Ukrainian service members and 7 civilians were freed from Russian captivity.
Ukraine has brought back servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including representatives of the Navy, Ground Forces, Territorial Defence Forces, Air Assault Forces and the Air Force, as well as members of the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service.
In addition to soldiers and sergeants, officers were also released.
The freed servicemen defended the country on the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Sumy and Kyiv fronts.
Most of the released defenders were taken captive during the defence of Mariupol.
A National Guard serviceman who had been captured during the seizure of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant was also brought back from captivity.
It is reported that 139 out of the 157 released Ukrainian citizens had been held in Russian captivity since 2022.
In addition, Ukrainians who had been illegally sentenced in Russia were brought home.
The youngest released defender is 23 years old. He was captured at the age of 19 during the defence of Mariupol. A Russian court had illegally sentenced him to "life imprisonment".
The oldest defender released today is 63 years old.
Ukraine expressed gratitude to the United States and the United Arab Emirates for their assistance in organising the exchange and securing the return home of Ukrainian civilians and service members.
Those freed from captivity will undergo full medical examinations, receive physical and psychological rehabilitation, and be granted all state payments envisaged by law.
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