New exchange: Ukraine brings back 270 more defenders from Russian captivity – photos

On Friday 23 October, 270 military personnel returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity as part of a new exchange.

Source: Zelenskyy on social media; Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War

Quote from Zelenskyy: "270 of our people are home. A very important result. National Guard members, including Azov warriors, border guards, warriors of the Territorial Defence Forces, the Navy, the Land Forces, the Airborne Assault Forces, and the State Special Transport Service, as well as nine civilians, are returning home. Most of them had been in captivity since 2022."

Details: According to the president, most of those released are warriors who defended Ukraine in Mariupol. People who defended the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv fronts are also returning.

"Many were illegally convicted in Russia. Among those returning are five people who were believed to have been killed in the Russian terrorist attack in Olenivka in July 2022," Zelenskyy wrote.

Background: Ukraine and Russia held their last prisoner of war exchange in August, when 103 service personnel from the National Guard, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Navy, the Territorial Defence Forces and the State Border Guard Service were brought back to Ukraine.

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