100 Ukrainians released from Russian captivity, most of them Mariupol defenders – photo, video
Ukraine has brought back another 100 Ukrainians from Russian captivity in the most recent prisoner swap with Russia.
Source: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on social media; Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on Telegram
Quote from Zelenskyy: "Another 100 Ukrainians are back home, in Ukraine. National guardsmen, border guards and soldiers from the armed forces of Ukraine. Most of them had defended Mariupol.
All of them are our people, and all of them are back on their native land. We are working to free every one [of our defenders] and will not stop until we bring all of them back! I’m grateful to the team working on prisoner swaps for the result our country has needed!"
Details: The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that this is the 51st prisoner swap since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The prisoners released in this exchange include 49 national guardsmen, 25 border guards and 26 soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including 11 territorial defence personnel.
All of them are privates and sergeants. Eighty-four of them defended Mariupol (including 82 Azovstal defenders), while the rest carried out combat duty on the Donetsk and Luhansk fronts.
At least 28 of the freed prisoners have injuries or are seriously ill. The oldest one is aged 62 and the youngest is 20.
Quote from Coordination Headquarters: "Among others, we were able to bring back the medic who rescued two wounded brothers, Mykola and Roman, under the most difficult circumstances at Azovstal.
A total of 3,135 Defenders have been freed from Russian captivity since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
We are grateful to the United Arab Emirates for their help in organising this exchange."
Updated: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has published a reaction to the exchange of prisoners of war. He thanked everyone involved in the exchanges.
Quote from Zelenskyy: "I want to thank everyone on our team who participated in the exchanges. I'd like to thank Kyrylo Budanov and everyone at Ukraine's Defence Intelligence who participated in the exchanges. I thank Andrii Yermak and the Office team. I thank Dmytro Usov and the entire Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs. Everyone involved and everyone who contributed. I am grateful to Dmytro Lubinets and the Ombudsman's team. I'd like to thank Ihor Klymenko and the Ministry of Internal Affairs team. I am grateful to Vasyl Maliuk and the Security Service of Ukraine team."
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