75 Ukrainians brought back home from Russian captivity – photos, video

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO — Friday, 31 May 2024, 13:23

Ukraine has managed to bring home 75 Ukrainians from Russian captivity.

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

Quote: "Throughout all of this time, we have not stopped working for a single day to bring everyone home from Russian captivity. And today, we have an important result: 75 more of our people have been brought back to Ukraine. The [members of the] Armed Forces, National Guard, border guards, and four civilians. All of them are already on their native land.".

The Coordination Headquarters noted that this is the first prisoner swap after a long break since February 2024.

A total of 75 Ukrainian defenders, as well as Ukrainian civilians, are coming back to their families. Among the liberated defenders are 70 men and five women, and out of them, six are officers and 65 are privates or sergeants. At least a third of the rescued soldiers have been injured, seriously ill or disabled.

This time, 37 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were released from captivity, including 13 members of the Navy and two members of the Air Force. Also, 21 soldiers of the National Guard were released from captivity. Seven border guards, six soldiers of the Territorial Defence Forces and four Ukrainian civilians are coming back home.

Ukraine has managed to bring back 19 defenders of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, 14 servicemen who guarded the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and ten defenders of Mariupol. Ukrainians captured on the Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Sumy fronts were released.

This prisoner swap is the 52nd since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. As of today, 3,210 Ukrainian defenders have been released from captivity.

The Coordination HQ expressed special gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for its active participation in the swap.

Quote: "There are still many Ukrainian defenders and civilian Ukrainians in enemy captivity. Despite all the difficulties and opposition of the aggressor state, the Coordination Headquarters continues to make efforts to ensure that all our people come back home as soon as possible."

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