Ukraine and Russia carried out another exchange of prisoners of war in the 95-for-95 format, which allowed the return to their homeland of 95 Ukrainian military personnel and hostages of the Kremlin regime. This exchange was another step in attempts to liberate Ukrainians held by Russia.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation was the first to report on the exchange, and later the information was confirmed by the Ukrainian mass media, in particular during the Yedyni Novyny telethon.
Among those released is human rights defender, journalist and co-founder of the ZMINA Center Maksym Butkevich, whose return was announced by his father Oleksandr. Also among those exchanged are fighters of the 12th special forces brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov”, who participated in the defense of Mariupol and Azovstal. In addition, prisoners of war sentenced by Russia to life imprisonment are among those released.
Among the famous names is Serhii Alekseevich, defender of Mariupol and fighter of “Azov”, who was also managed to be returned from captivity.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi noted, that among the liberated are soldiers who defended different regions of Ukraine: Mariupol, Azovstal, Donetsk region, Luhansk region, Kharkiv region, Kyiv region, Chernihiv region and Kherson region. Zelensky emphasized that each exchange brings Ukraine closer to the day when all Ukrainians in captivity will be able to return home. The head of state also expressed his gratitude to the team working on the release of prisoners, as well as the military, who replenish the “exchange fund”, and international partners for their support in these processes.
The Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that the peculiarity of this exchange was that among those released there were many Ukrainians who were sentenced to long prison terms by the Russian judicial system, and 20 of them received life sentences for their protection of Ukraine from the aggressor.
The exchange took place through the mediation of the United Arab Emirates, which played an important role in this process. Among those released are national guardsmen, military sailors, soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, border guards and representatives of other units of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine. A total of 69 soldiers and sergeants, as well as 26 officers, were released.
The coordination headquarters also reported that a significant number of released soldiers have serious health problems, including severe injuries, diseases, torture and malnutrition during captivity.
This exchange was the 58th in a row since the beginning of the full-scale war, and in total it was possible to free 3,767 Ukrainians who were in Russian captivity.
