Another exchange has been held between Ukraine and Russia, with 84 Ukrainian military personnel and civilians returning home.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the news on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.
“We are bringing Ukrainians back home to Ukraine. A new exchange, 84 people, both military personnel and civilians. Almost all of them require medical care and significant rehabilitation. Among the civilians released today are those who had been held by the Russians since 2014, 2016, and 2017. Among the military released today are the defenders of Mariupol. I am grateful to everyone who helps us continue to free Ukrainian captives,” the President emphasized.
Zelensky thanked the team that worked on the exchange – “all those in the Coordination Headquarters, the Defense Intelligence, the Office, and the special services who work to bring our people back”.
The President also expressed his gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for facilitating the exchange.
“And above all, I thank our warriors who replenish Ukraine’s “exchange fund” every week on the frontline. The bravery and effectiveness of our units on the frontline make it possible, among other things, to bring our people back home. There will be more exchanges,” Zelensky assured.
“Today, the 67th prisoner exchange took place. As a result of negotiations conducted by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on behalf of the President of Ukraine, 33 military personnel and 51 Ukrainian civilians were released from Russian captivity,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on Telegram.
The Coordination Headquarters noted that today’s exchange was unique in that it was possible to free Ukrainian civilians and military personnel who had been detained in the temporarily occupied territories before the full-scale invasion and illegally sentenced to long prison terms ranging from 10 to 18 years. One of those released had been in captivity for 4,013 days, having been taken prisoner in the Donetsk region back in 2014.
Ukrainians who were captured and sentenced by Russian invaders between 2016 and 2021 are also returning to their homeland. Among those freed are three women from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. One of them is a primary school teacher who was deprived of her freedom in 2019.
Among the Ukrainian civilians released today is a 27-year-old man who was illegally deprived of his freedom by the invaders in 2016. At that time, he was only 18 years old.
In addition to civilians, defenders from the Mariupol garrison, soldiers of the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service are also returning home. Ten officers were freed from captivity.
Two pairs of brothers are returning from Russian captivity, having been held captive since March and April 2022.
The youngest released prisoner is 26 years old, and the oldest is 74, of whom the last seven years (since 2018) he spent in a Russian prison.
According to Ukrinform, the previous stage of the exchange of prisoners took place on July 23. At that time, seriously ill and severely wounded defenders returned home.
Photo: Volodymyr Zelensky’s Telegram Channel
Source: Ukraine rescues 84 military servicemen and civilians from Russian captivity
