President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the completion of another stage of prisoner exchange, most of whom had been held captive since 2022.
The head of state announced this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.
“We are continuing the exchanges, another stage. Today, soldiers from the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Service are returning. Most of them had been in captivity since 2022. We are doing everything we can to find everyone and verify the information about each surname. We must bring all of our people home,” Zelensky said.
He also thanked everyone who is helping Ukraine in conducting the exchanges.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War noted that representatives of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Troop Forces, as well as soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine and the State Border Service have returned to Ukraine.
It is noted that the vast majority of the defenders released today had been held captive for more than three years. A significant number of them were captured during the defense of Mariupol.
The Coordination Headquarters reported that the specificity of today’s exchange stage is that it was possible to return young soldiers home. The youngest defender is 24 years old and was captured during the defense of Mariupol in April 2022, at the age of 21.
It was also possible to free the National Guard soldiers who were guarding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant from captivity.
The oldest soldier who was returned to his homeland is 62 years old.
Among those released today are officers.
In general, Ukrainians who defended the country in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Kherson, Kyiv, and Sumy regions are returning home.
The defenders released from captivity will undergo the necessary medical examination, receive assistance with physical and psychological rehabilitation, as well as all due payments for the entire period of their captivity, the Coordination Headquarters emphasized.
As reported by Ukrinform, the previous stages of the prisoner exchange took place on June 14 and 19. In particular, soldiers who had been in Russian captivity since 2022 and those who were considered missing in action were returned.
On June 2, the second round of negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine and the Russian Federation took place in Istanbul, during which an agreement was reached on the exchange of prisoners of war in two categories — the wounded and seriously wounded, as well as young soldiers under the age of 25 — in an “all for all” format. In addition, the issue of exchanging the bodies of fallen soldiers was agreed upon in Istanbul.
Source: Zelensky announced completion of another stage of prisoner exchange
